Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick has labeled July 4th - US Independence Day - a "celebration of white supremacy".
Yesterday, millions of Americans celebrated the 244th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
The Federal holiday honors the day - July 4, 1776 - that the Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subjects to British monarch King George III, and were now united, free, and independent states.
However, 32-year-old Kaepernick was not celebrating.
Tweeting to his 2.3 million Twitter followers, the former San Francisco 49ers player wrote:
"Black ppl have been dehumanized, brutalized, criminalized + terrorized by America for centuries, & are expected to join your commemoration of 'independence', while you enslaved our ancestors.
"We reject your celebration of white supremacy & look forward to liberation for all."
Along with the tweet, Kaepernick attached a video of the actor James Earl Jones reciting Frederick Douglass' 1852 speech, Douglass'
The video contained many upsetting and troubling visuals, such as pictures of slave auctions, KKK members, lynching, racist caricature drawings, and videos of police officers attacking black individuals.
As you can see from the tweets below, Kaepernick received a mixed response to his statement:
Kaepernick has long been an activist against police brutality and racist injustice, famously taking a knee during the national anthem of the 49ers' final preseason game on September 1, 2016.
After taking a knee for the first time and being accused of being "anti-American", Kaepernick said back in 2016: "Once again, I’m not anti-American. I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this.
"I want to help make America better. I think having these conversations helps everybody have a better understanding of where everybody is coming from."
After leaving the 49ers in March 2017, Kaepernick has remained a free agent.
Despite the initial backlash, the sports body has acknowledged their failure to listen to NFL players sooner when speaking out against the systematic oppression of black people.
Writing on Twitter in June, the NFL said:
"We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. #InspireChange"
Following the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers on May 25, Kaepernick tweeted:
"When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction.
"The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance.
"We have the right to fight back!
"Rest in Power George Floyd."
LeBron James also took to social media on Independence Day to share a segment from Frederick Douglass' speech.
In the video below, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech.