Kaepernick's received death threats
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has gained plenty of attention - both positive and negative - as he continues his protest against police brutality and racial inequality, including death threats.
"I've had a few come my way, but not too concerned about it," Kaepernick said Tuesday, according to Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
Kaepernick said he hadn't reported them to team security because "if something like that were to happen, you’ve proved my point and it'll be loud and clear for everyone why it happened, and that would move this movement forward at a greater speed than what it is even now.
"Granted, it's not how I want it to happen, but that's the realization of what could happen. I knew there were other things that came along with this when I first stood up and spoke about it. It's not something I haven’t thought about."
Kaepernick also outlined his planned $1 million in donations Tuesday, specifying that he'll donate $100,000 per month to community organizations for 10 months. He said he'll set up a website so the public can track how the money's being spent. Previously, Kaepernick indicated he would donate to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation.
The quarterback said the backlash he's facing isn't unique to his sport.
"There’s a lot of racism disguised as patriotism in this country and people don’t like to address that and they don’t like to address what the root of this protest is," he said. "You have players across this country, not only in the NFL but soccer and NBA and high school players, they don’t like to address this issue that people of color are oppressed and treated unjustly. I don’t know why that is or what they’re scared of, but it needs to be addressed."
Prior to Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers, Kaepernick entered a contentious stare down with Cam Newton. Newton previously said the U.S. was "beyond" racism "as a nation," and many believe the two were at odds due to their respective sociopolitical stances. Kaepernick said there wasn't any animosity between the pair.
"I don't know what caused me to make that face," Kaepernick said, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.