Colin Kaepernick accuses his white adoptive parents of ‘perpetuating racism’
Colin Kaepernick called his white adoptive parents RACIST for telling him as a teenager that corn rows looked ‘unprofessional’
- Kaepernick was adopted at five weeks old by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick
- They had two biological children, but had lost two sons in a row to a heart defect
- Kaepernick complains that he’s been through “some very problematic things.”
Colin Kaepernick has accused his white adoptive parents of “perpetuating racism” by telling him as a teenager that corn rows looked unprofessional, and says he had to go through “very problematic things” growing up in their home.
Kaepernick was adopted as a baby by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, a white couple from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They moved to Turlock, California when he was four.
They had two biological children, but lost two sons to congenital heart defects.
Kaepernick — a former NFL player who led the offense with the take-a-knee move — says that while he knew they “loved him,” there were “very problematic things” that he “went through.”
Speaking to CBS to promote his new graphic comedy memoir, Kaepernick gave the example of his mother telling him corn rows weren’t professional
Kaepernick’s parents, Rick and Teresa, adopted him when he was five weeks old. They already had two biological children, but lost two sons to congenital heart defects
Speak against CBS to promote his new graphic comedy memoir, Kaepernick gave the example of his mother telling him that corn rows were not professional.
Kaepernick as a high school football star
He claims she told him he “looked like a petty thug” when he showed her the haircut.
“I know my parents loved me.
“But there were still very problematic things I was going through,” he said.
Kaepernick’s parents have not responded publicly or to his anti-racism campaign.
In a gushing ESPN article before he launched his campaign against the NFL, Kaepernick’s parents expressed their joy in bringing him home.
His father, who was a businessman at a cheese company for much of his career, said, “It all went very smoothly.
“I know adoptions don’t usually go that smoothly, but it was.
“Colin has never had adoption issues.
“The only difference is that his skin is slightly browner than ours.”
Kaepernick with his father, who was a food company executive
Kaepernick’s biological mother gave him up when he was five weeks old. She was 19
His mother said, “I will never forget that day.
“They put him in a baby carrier and set him down. The birth mother was there.
“I looked at her and she nodded and I just grabbed him from the carriage. The moment I picked him up I just cried.
We gave her a big hug. And she needed a few more minutes. And then we left.’
His birth mother was 19 and had chosen to give him up when he was five weeks old.
Kaepernick attended John H. Pitman High School, a public high school in Turlock, where he was a football star.
He then attended the University of Nevada at Reno on a football scholarship before graduating in 2011. After graduation, he joined the San Francisco 49ers.
In 2016, Kaepernick launched an anti-racism movement when he knelt during the national anthem during NFL games in protest of police brutality against black men. It infuriated the league and others, who said it was a sign of disrespect. Others embraced it around the world
Kaepernick and his mother, Teresa, in a social media image shared ahead of his anti-racism campaign