It’s an open secret that Colin Kaepernick was raised by white adoptive parents. His experiences growing up come to light in his Netflix series Colin in black and white. The show depicts the prejudices he faced growing up biracial alongside white siblings and white parents.
Kaepernick rose to international fame for protesting police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem. He lost his place in the NFL and, despite support from some quarters, he still received criticism. People’s perception of Colin changed during the George Floyd protests, as kneeling became an international symbol against racism and police brutality.
Colin has refused to meet his biological mother, Heidi Russo, who abandoned him at five weeks old.
Colin Kaepernick was born on November 3, 1987 to Heidi Russo, a white woman. Kaepernick’s father was an African-American man with Ghanaian, Nigerian and Ivorian roots. His identity is unknown, as he was separated from Heidi before Colin’s birth.
Heidi was 19, broke, and without a partner to help raise Colin. She decided to give it to a financially stable family with other children and a passion for sports. The Kaepernicks fit the bill.
Teresa was a nurse and Rick worked as a plant operations manager. They had two sons, Kyle and Brown, and had lost two sons, Lance and Kent, to heart defects. They wanted a son, and Kaepernick was a perfect fit. Theresa said ESPN:
“I will never forget that day. They brought him in a baby carrier and took him down. The biological mother [Russo] It was there. I looked at her and she nodded and I just took it out of the trunk. When I picked it up, I just cried. We gave him a big hug. And she needed a couple more minutes. And then we left.
rick said ESPN that Colin’s adoption went as smoothly as they had hoped: “I know it’s not usually easy with adoptions, but it was. Colin never had adoption problems. The only difference is that his skin is slightly darker than ours.
Heidi believed that she had no choice but to let Colin go. “I couldn’t go on with my life,” she said. KDVR. Teresa sent letters and photos to Russo to update her on Colin’s progress. Heidi finally told Russo to stop: she couldn’t take the pain.
Russo became a registered nurse and started a family. She has three sons: Michael, Ethan, and Jett. Along with two other women, Heidi founded the non-profit organization Three Strands to support birth mothers through adoption.
Heidi sent Colin a letter to read at age 18, but that didn’t change his decision not to meet her. Before the Super Bowl, she said that she would not change her mind about not meeting Russo. “It’s just, that’s my family,” she said. “That’s all.” Kaepernick added that she is not curious about meeting Russo.
The Kaepernicks encourage Colin to meet Heidi, but he doesn’t relent.
Colin’s biological mother criticized him for kneeling
Despite having white parents, Colin was still prejudiced about his skin. “It only got worse as he got older and taller,” he said. US Magazine. “No matter how close I was to my family, someone would come up to me, a really nervous manager, and say, ‘Excuse me. Is there anything I can help you with?’”
Kaepernick decided to protest perhaps the greatest symbol of American pride, the national anthem, as it played before the start of perhaps the most American sport of all: American football.
Protests emanated from all sides, including from Colin’s biological mother, Heidi Russo. she tweeted:: “There are ways to make changes without disrespecting and embarrassing the same country and family that gave you so many blessings.”
“The road less traveled does not have to be the path of destruction,” he wrote in a subsequent tweet. It took Colin’s parents three months to express their support for Colin. Rick and Teresa initially avoided commenting on the matter, but reports claiming they were opposed to Colin’s actions forced them to speak out. His statement said:
“As his parents, it hurts us to read articles and tweets saying that his family does not support him; This could not be further from the truth. We want people to know that we are very proud of our son and admire his strength and courage in taking his knees for the rights of others.”
Teresa and Rick’s statement blasted Kaepernick’s critics. He also expressed shock at the “amount of racist hate out there.” The parents admitted that the aftermath of Colin’s statement had opened their eyes to the terrible “racial atmosphere” in the United States. “I just want to go on record that we absolutely support it,” Teresa said. unbeaten.
Colin’s parents had previously defended him after a columnist criticized Colin for his tattoos. Angry Teresa told him USA Today:
“Are you categorizing this kid into something like tattoos? In fact? Is this how you are going to define this child? It’s pretty irritating, but it is what it is.”
“Instead of saying Colin does all these cool things and donates his time to kids, this guy is going to present him as a gangster,” Rick added.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn