The niece of Martin Luther King has slammed Colin Kaepernick, suggesting he may not know who Betsy Ross is.
American pro-life advocate and author Alveda King appeared on Fox Business to question the athlete's knowledge of the credited American flag maker after he convinced Nike to pull a shoe that featured the flag, which has been embraced by white nationalists.
Check out Dr. Alveda King's appearance in the video below:Speaking on the show on Wednesday, the former state representative for the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives, claimed: "I am not so sure brother Kaepernick even totally understands who Betsy Ross is. It's kind of unfortunate that we are fighting over sneakers when we should be celebrating living in the best country on the planet."
Saying she found the Nike shoes "cute", she said the sports company's decision to pull the product had added to the division happening across America.
"Unfortunately, Nike decided to join in a fight, in a struggle, that further divides rather than reconciles," she said. "I think love always wins the day, but we have to get there."
Many scholars dismiss that story that Ross created the early version of the flag, which features 13 white stars in a circle, representing the 13 original colonies, and King herself questioned it on the show, saying: "Betsy Ross may or may have not designed the flag".
In addition, King said her grandfather, father, and uncle all knew how to create peaceful resolutions to conflict while gathering facts, stating: "If you take a knee, do a prayer in the process. You educate your public, you examine your own soul, you sit down and you talk."
The Trump supporter added that America had more important issues to worry about, in her opinion, specifically "the babies being aborted in the womb".
She also stressed that in order to achieve progress, the US had to use "restoration, renewal, forgiveness and communication".
The Air Max 1 USA shoes were set to go on sale this week for $140, but former American football quarterback Kaepernick - known for kneeling in protest during the National Anthem to protect systematic racism against African-Americans - argued that the old American flag on the sneakers' heel was offensive because of its links to an era of slavery.
The flag was created during the American Revolution, a period of time where lawmakers declared that those born into slavery were slaves for life and advocated for its expansion.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Nike had already shipped the shoes - designed to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday - to retailers when it asked for them to be returned without explanation.
"Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured the old version of the American flag," a Nike spokeswoman told the outlet.
However, their decision has been criticized by many conservatives, with Sen. Josh Hawley naming the move "anti-American".
"Betsy Ross was an independent businesswoman who had her own shop in Philadelphia who designed our nation's first flag and sewed the nation's first flag. She was a founding mother," he said. "This is something that's the best of America, and this is controversial to Nike?"
