LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 03: Colin Kaepernick (R) and his mother attend VH1's 3rd annual 'Dear Mama: A Love Letter To Moms' screening at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on May 3, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
<p>Athlete-turned-activist <a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/colin-kaepernick-and-nessa-welcome-their-first-child-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colin Kaepernick</a> is opening up about his upbringing in an new graphic novel called <em>Change the Game</em>.</p>
<p>While promoting this book, he&#8217;s also dishing on how Rick and Teresa Kaepernick—his adoptive parents, who are white—&#8221;perpetuated&#8221; anti-Blackness and put him through &#8220;very problematic things.&#8221;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Colin Kaepernick Says It&#8217;s &#8216;Important To Show&#8217; The Experiences He Lived Through</h3>
<p>Colin&#8217;s commentary came by way of a sit-down with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colin-kaepernick-new-book-change-the-game-activism-nfl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>CBS</em></a>. During this interview, the former San Francisco 49ers QB acknowledged how his parents, who have been in his life since he was only <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-colin-kaepernick-adoptive-parents-rick-teresa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five weeks old</a>, love him dearly.</p>
<p>However, their biracial adoptive son nonetheless still went through &#8220;very problematic things&#8221; growing up. As a result, Colin noted that it&#8217;s &#8220;important to show&#8221; how some of these experiences—which included his parents&#8217; pushback against him &#8220;embracing his Blackness&#8221;—played out.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I know my parents loved me, but there were still very problematic things that I went through. I think it was important to show, &#8216;No, this can happen in your own home.'&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Kaerpernick went on to ponder, &#8220;How do we move forward collectively while addressing the racism that is being perpetuated?&#8221;</p>
<p><amp-twitter data-tweetid="1633937957357797378" layout="responsive" width="600" height="480"></amp-twitter></p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Colin Cites His Mother&#8217;s Objection To Cornrows: &#8216;You Look Like A Little Thug&#8217;</h3>
<p>According to excerpts from <em>Change the Game </em>that were shared by the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/09/colin-kaepernick-accuses-white-adoptive-parents-of-problematic-upbringing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>New York Post</em></a>, some of the &#8220;very problematic things&#8221; that Colin experienced include his parents&#8217; negative reaction to him rocking cornrows.</p>
<p>In response to this decision—which was influenced by Allen Iverson, who &#8220;wore his Blackness light a suit of armor&#8221;—the graphic novel cites Colin&#8217;s mother as responding, &#8220;He&#8217;s getting what rolls?&#8221;</p>
<p>When recalling the incident, Colin told <em>CBS </em>that he recalled comments like, &#8220;Oh, your hair’s not professional. Oh, you look like a little thug.&#8221;</p>
<p>In another example shared by the <em>New York Post</em>, Kaepernick highlighted a situation that involved his father openly speaking to a man who was donning a hat that featured the Confederate flag. In spite of Colin knowing that the Confederate flag &#8220;symbolized racism and slavery,&#8221; the book depicts his white adoptive father being unfazed by the matter.</p>
<p><amp-youtube data-videoid="EcVflL1DFtI" layout="responsive" width="1000" height="563" dock="#dock-slot"></amp-youtube></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">What do you think about Colin Kaepernick speaking on the matter?</p>
 <div class="wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style="justify-content: center;;"> <div class="wpra-reactions-container" data-ver="1.3.10" data-post_id="115066" data-show_count="true" data-enable_share="onclick" data-behavior="regular" data-animation="true" data-share_url="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/colin-kaepernick-says-his-white-adoptive-parents-perpetuated-racism-anti-blackness-you-look-like-a-little-thug/" data-secure="b58d235200"> <div class="wpra-call-to-action" style="color: #000000;font-size: 25px;font-weight: 600;">What Do You Think Roomies?</div> <div class="wpra-reactions wpra-static-emojis size-medium" style="border-color: #ffffff;border-width: 0px;border-radius: 50px;border-style: solid;background: #ffffff;">					<div class="emoji-8 wpra-reaction wpra-pad-fix" data-count="" data-emoji_id="8"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-10 wpra-reaction wpra-pad-fix" data-count="" data-emoji_id="10"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-4 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="4"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-5 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="5"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-2 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="2"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-7 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="7"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div><div class="emoji-12 wpra-reaction" data-count="" data-emoji_id="12"> <div class="wpra-plus-one">+1</div>	 <div style="background-color: #ff0015" class="wpra-arrow-badge arrow-bottom-left hide-count"> <span style="border-top-color: #ff0015" class="tail"></span> <span style="color: #ffffff" class="count-num">0</span> </div>	</div> </div> <div class="wpra-share-wrap wpra-share-buttons-bordered" style="">				 </div> <!-- end of share buttons -->			 </div> <!-- end of reactions container --> </div> <!-- end of reactions wrap -->		
