After the Death of George Floyd, America Should Learn From Colin Kaepernick

Kaepernick's protest was to bring awareness to police brutality and systemic racism, and the problem has only gotten worse since America dismissed him.

SI's Jenny Vrentas discusses Colin Kaepernick's protesting that eventually led to him losing his job in the NFL and being kept out of the league since then. Kaepernick famously knelt in silent protest during the national anthem to bring about a conversation about police brutality and systemic racism in America, but instead the conversation became about kneeling. Now today, with the brutal murder of George Floyd and the continuing problem of police brutality and system racism in America, Kaepernick's words seem all the more crucial.

Read the full video transcript below: 

This is Jenny Vrentas from Sports Illustrated. It's been nearly four years since Colin Kaepernick began quietly and peacefully protesting police brutality and systemic racism in America. And it's been three and a half years since Kaepernick, who once took the 49ers to the Super Bowl, played his last down in the NFL. The wakeup call Kaepernick was trying to issue to America, especially white America, was swiftly drowned out by the scrutiny he faced for the method of his protest kneeling during the national anthem that ultimately cost Kaepernick his career--a price he was willing to pay to force a conversation far more important than football. And yet, here in the U.S., the conversation we had was not the one that mattered. We had a conversation about kneeling, not race. Nearly four years later, the death of George Floyd, who perished in police custody after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes while Floyd said he could not breathe, is a chilling benchmark for how little has changed and how much more work needs to be done to truly confront and correct systemic racism in America. We should go back to Kaepernick's words in August 2016 when he began his demonstration. "It would be selfish on my part to look the other way", he said. "There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." Kaepernick did not look the other way, but the rest of us need to share that burden he took on. We can't be afraid to confront issues that might not directly affect us, that might make us uncomfortable or self-conscious about our own biases. Start by taking one action, whether it's having a tough conversation, educating yourself or supporting a cause like Kaepernick's Know Your Rights camp. And we can frame the stance he took in 2016 the right way. Colin Kaepernick sacrificed his professional career to spur his country to address police brutality and systemic racism. And his country did not listen. 

For more on George Floyd, read these stories:

• Colin Kaepernick Offers to Pay for Lawyers of Minneapolis Protesters

• Former NBA Player Stephen Jackson Mourns Death of 'Twin' George Floyd

• J.J. Watt Reacts to Death of George Floyd: 'It Doesn't Make Any Sense