Abdul-Jabbar: Failure to fix our flaws is un-American, not Kaepernick

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, isn’t just one of the greatest basketball players of all time, he’s also a fairly big proponent of social activism.

Early Tuesday morning, the Washington Post published a thought piece penned by Abdul-Jabbar that pushes us to look at ourselves as a nation and re-define what we mean by “patriotism”.

Abdul-Jabbar went on to qualify patriotism as something that “involves personal risk or sacrifice”, the risk in Kaepernick’s situation being that he’s in line to lose money in future endorsements and potentially his career as an NFL QB.

The 6-time NBA champion closed on these lines:

“What should horrify Americans is not Kaepernick’s choice to remain seated during the national anthem, but that nearly 50 years after Ali was banned from boxing for his stance and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s raised fists caused public ostracization and numerous death threats, we still need to call attention to the same racial inequities. Failure to fix this problem is what’s really un-American here.”

The former Laker, who had a tendency to be reclusive when he was in the NBA, has by and far made his voice heard upon his retirement.

Kaepernick has said he fully intends to continue sitting out the anthem as the season progresses.

One thing’s for sure, you can’t knock his determination.

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‘Dancing With The Stars’ cast includes Ryan Lochte, Calvin Johnson
‘Dancing With The Stars’ cast includes Ryan Lochte, Calvin Johnson