Regardless of one's stance on NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the national anthem, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr hopes Americans of every race feel disgusted by recent injustices against people of color.
Kerr voiced strong support Wednesday for Kaepernick and the nationwide conversation he has helped to start. He believes similar protests will take place in the NBA when the season begins, and will "absolutely talk to his players as a team" about how to send a message of their own.
MORE: National anthem protests
"Probably one of the best things that’s come out of the Kaepernick issue is that people are talking. It’s a good thing," Kerr told reporters during a pre-training camp news conference, per CSN Bay Area. "No matter what side of the spectrum you’re on, I would hope that every American is disgusted with what is going on around the country. And it just happened two days ago in Tulsa (Okla.), with Terence Crutcher."
Crutcher, a 40-year-old black man, was shot dead by a white female police officer in Tulsa last week. Video made public Monday showed Crutcher, a pastor, with his hands in the air before he was killed. The Tulsa Police Department said no weapons were found on Crutcher's person or in his vehicle.
It was the latest incidence of violent police action against black citizens that was caught on camera, and protests have again formed in affected cities.
In Charlotte, N.C., one person was critically wounded Wednesday night while protesting a fatal shooting by city police the day before.
MORE: Hornets team store looted during Charlotte protests
Kaepernick has said his peaceful protests, which have been adopted by other NFL players and other professional athletes, are meant to draw attention to racial inequality and police relations in the United States. He has been sharply criticized for his actions, which critics consider disrespectful to the American flag and, by association, the armed forces.
"It doesn’t matter what side you’re on with the Kaepernick stuff, you’d better be disgusted by the things that are happening," said Kerr, who has been outspoken about gun violence and other social issues in the past. (Kerr's father, a university president, was killed by Islamic jihadists in Beirut in 1984.)
"I understand people who are offended by his stance. Maybe they have a military family member who is offended," he continued. "Maybe they lost somebody in a war, and that flag and the anthem means a lot more to them than to someone else.
"But then you flip it around and ... ‘What about non-violent protest?’ It’s America. This is what our country is about it. It’s non-violent protest. It’s what it should be about."
