Former San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick made national waves again on July 4, discussing his thoughts on the national holiday while on a recent trip overseas along. Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry fired back at Kaepernick, and although some may disagree with her, she's refusing to back down on her stance:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWQlCnlh-gi/
Kaepernick "celebrating" Independence Day
Here's the video Kaepernick tweeted out on the Fourth of July:
In the tweet, Kaepernick says, "How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs?"
In addition, Kaepernick shared extended thoughts on his trip via his Instagram account.
"What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?" - Frederick Douglass.
In a quest to find my personal independence, I had to find out where my ancestors came from. I set out tracing my African ancestral roots, and it lead me to Ghana. Upon finding out this information, I wanted to visit the sites responsible for myself (and many other Black folks in the African Diaspora) for being forced into the hells of the middle passage. I wanted to see a fraction of what they saw before reaching the point of no return. I spent time with the/my Ghanaian people, from visiting the local hospital in Keta and the village of Atito, to eating banku in the homes of local friends, and paying my respects to Kwame Nkrumah's Memorial Park. I felt their love, and truly I hope that they felt mine in return.
Former ESPN anchor Britt McHenry responds
McHenry didn't care for Kaepernick's comments and tweeted out a Tumblr post she wrote in response to the free agent quarterback's tweet.
McHenry's tweet and post is a lot more poignant and angry than Kaepernick's, who continues to expound on his beliefs and opinions even with much of the backlash from the media sphere.
The post begins with the words, "Colin Kaepernick can't get out of his own way." McHenry does acknowledge the good that he's done, but also goes at him hard for the "truly celebrate" part of his tweet.
McHenry goes to town on Kaepernick for his "offensive statements and/or remarks" on police officers, comparing police officers to a modern day slave patrol and eventually his questioning how to truly celebrate Independence Day.
McHenry closed with a push for Kaepernick to get out and vote while reminding him what the Fourth of July is really about.
Parking lot controversy
This is far from the first time that McHenry has found herself in controversy. Two years ago, ESPN reporter Britt McHenry was suspended for one week after her vicious tirade against a tow lot employee. In her temper tantrum, McHenry made fun of the employee's appearance, her education level and pretty much said she's better than the tow lot employee because she's on the news.
Political views
In a since deleted tweet, McHenry responded to ideas of ESPN having a liberal bias with the following: "I mean I've been openly conservative... look how that ended up," after she was canned from the company amidst wide-spread layoffs.
Via the Daily Mail:
McHenry has since responded to the deleted tweet with another message on Twitter:
For now, McHenry can be found on her blog, linked above.
