Key Takeaways
- Colin Kaepernick says he plans to prepare his four-year-old Black daughter for racism earlier than his white adoptive parents prepared him, explaining, “She ain’t asked for all this.”
- He recalled hiding a racist childhood attack from his parents because he did not know whether they would support him, an experience that later shaped his racial-justice activism.
- Kaepernick continues that work through Know Your Rights Camp and his memoir, The Perilous Fight, while maintaining that the NFL has blackballed him since his anthem protests.
Colin Kaepernick spent much of his childhood learning how to navigate racism without knowing whom to turn to. Now that he's raising a Black daughter of his own, the former NFL quarterback is determined to make sure she's better prepared for the challenges ahead.
During an Oct. 19 appearance on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Kaepernick discussed raising his four-year-old daughter with his wife, Nessa Diab, and how growing up in a predominantly white community shaped his parenting.
"She's going to be a little light-skinned Black girl," Kaepernick explained. "She's going to have Kaepernick as her last name. She's also tall."
He continued, "Like, I know she's going to have to face things. She ain't asked for all this. So, I'm like, you have to be prepared. I'm going to have to prepare you earlier."
Kaepernick knows firsthand what happens when those conversations don't take place.
Adopted by white parents at five weeks old, he grew up in Turlock, California, where he frequently encountered racism without having the cultural context to understand it.
During the podcast, Kaepernick recalled being eight years old when neighborhood children tied him to a rose tree and called him a racial slur. He escaped after a passing neighbor intervened but never told his parents.
"I can't tell my parents," he remembered thinking. "I don't know if they're going to have my back in this situation."
Although Kaepernick emphasized that his parents loved him, he acknowledged they couldn't fully understand his experiences as a Black child.
That disconnect eventually influenced his activism. In 2016, Kaepernick began protesting police brutality and racial injustice during the national anthem, igniting a nationwide debate that extended well beyond football.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who led the team to Super Bowl XLVII, hasn't played in the NFL since that season.
In a September interview with NBC News, Kaepernick accused the league of continuing to exclude him.
"I'm not gonna support an organization that, one, is actively blackballing me, but two, has targeted my brothers who have been protesting as part of this as well," he said.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has denied that Kaepernick was blackballed. The quarterback filed a collusion grievance against the league in 2017, which was settled confidentially in 2019.
His activism has continued through Know Your Rights Camp, which provides resources to underserved communities. Kaepernick also received recognition this year when the Muhammad Ali Center announced he would receive its Humanitarian of the Year Award, honoring his commitment to racial justice.
Meanwhile, Kaepernick has revisited his journey in his memoir, The Perilous Fight, which examines the experiences that ultimately led him to take a knee.
But fatherhood has made that work even more personal.
During the podcast, Kaepernick recalled his daughter questioning him after he listed several reasons she couldn't play after her dinner.
"And this little girl goes, 'What's four?'" he said, laughing.
Diab apparently recognized the family resemblance immediately.
"That is Nessa's favorite part," Kaepernick said. "She was like, 'You have to deal with you now.'"
