Rapper Kevin Gates called out activist Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games in 2016. Kevin, who is pictured with wife Dreka Haynes in June, is best known for his mixtapes including Stranger Than Fiction, By Any Means, and Luca Brasi 2.
The outspoken 32-year-old rapper chastised Kaepernick, who began kneeling after receiving heavy criticism for sitting on the bench during the national anthem in the 2016 NFL season.
“A lot of people are going to look at this fucked up,” said Gates during a video he uploaded to Instagram.com.
Gates, who is a devout Muslim along with his wife Dreka, added:
“I love Colin Kaepernick. That’s my brother. I love his beautiful queen Nessa. I love these people with all my heart. He should have never took a knee. We bow for no man under the stars but Allah. He should have stood palms up.”
Gates’ statement about men standing with palms up rather than bending a knee was probably inspired by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who once said, “A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent.”
Early in the 2016 season, Kaepernick, 30, expressed an interest in being traded after he lost his starting quarterback position to backup QB Blaine Gabbert.
Kaepernick, who was reportedly upset over being benched, chose not to get off the bench during the playing of the national anthem, which led to reporters asking him why he was not standing.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he said. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
After public backlash from NFL fans, Kaepernick got off the bench and got down on one knee to protest the anthem during the remainder of the 2016 season.
Kaepernick officially opted out of his contract with the 49ers at the end of the season, making him a free agent for the 2017 NFL season.
But he went unsigned when no NFL team expressed interest in his services.
The rest of the NFL did not show their passion for protesting until President Trump began ranting and raving about Kaepernick and other kneelers on Twitter.com in late 2017.
In Nov. 2017, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL, claiming the league colluded to blackball him over his national anthem protests.
Last week, an arbitrator denied the NFL’s request to dismiss the case. The arbitrator decided there was sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial.
Only in America can an employee cause trouble on his job, quit his job, and then file a grievance when no other employer wants to hire him.
Photos by BKGD / BACKGRID, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
