It has been a while since former San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick left his career as a footballer to fight against injustice in the country as a civil rights activist. But despite not being in action, he has been making headlines now and then. After his controversial kneeling episode in the NFL in 2016, Kaepernick finds himself in the midst of controversies with the release of his new graphic novel, ‘Change the Game.’ 

In his novel, Colin Kaepernick wrote about how his parents’ opinions of him idolizing certain athletes back then left him with many questions running through his head. 

Parents’ comments on idolizing certain athletes left an impression on Colin Kaepernick

In his graphic novel, Kaepernick talks about how his parents did not like him idolizing certain athletes who he admired. There was a time when he was contemplating copying Allen Iverson’s hairstyle in his teenage days. But then his parents went on to say that they do not want him to ‘look like a little thug’. Kaepernick also mentioned a time when he was watching a Brewers baseball game with his dad.

While watching the match, when Ken Griffey Jr. came up to the pitch, his father passed a comment saying pro ball players “have to be professional” like how he always tried to teach Kaepernick. This left him feeling “weirded out”, as he felt that his parents made “a lot of things crystal clear without ever really saying them.”

Recently, Colin Kaepernick has received a lot of flak for calling out his parents.

Kaepernick calls out his parents over internalized racism in his upbringing

Kaepernick has been receiving widespread criticism from people, including a lot of athletes, over his remarks stating that he faced internalized racism from his parents while growing up in a white household. Former NFL veteran Marcellus Wiley called out Kaepernick, stating that his parents were just trying to protect him as any normal parent would do with their kids. Even Charlamagne Tha God, who has been supporting Kaepernick through his initial efforts, came out to say that he does not see eye to eye with the former NFL QB in this matter.

Read more: “May Not Be the Most Comfortable”: Colin Kaepernick Weighs in on Narrating ‘Reality Of Situations’ in Latest Book

With the number of different opinions forming around his stance with his adoptive parents and his new novel, it will be an interesting time ahead of Kaepernick and his efforts as an activist.

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