Key Takeaways
- Royce White called Colin Kaepernick “corny,” attacked his Black Panther-inspired image, and argued that Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt had more cultural impact than Kaepernick’s anthem protest.
- White’s comments mark a sharp reversal from 2020, when he called Kaepernick’s protest “prophetic” and led thousands of Minneapolis demonstrators in taking a knee after George Floyd’s murder.
- White has since moved into Republican politics, becoming Minnesota’s 2024 U.S. Senate nominee and launching a protest against transgender eligibility in the WNBA.
Royce White once called Colin Kaepernick’s protest “prophetic” and helped lead thousands of demonstrators in taking a knee in Minneapolis. Six years later, he has a very different message for the former NFL quarterback.
“F*ck Colin Kaepernick,” White told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson during a wide-ranging interview. White went after Kaepernick for criticizing Jay-Z’s partnership with the NFL, while also taking aim at the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s image as a symbol of athlete activism.
“Running around wearing an Afro as a costume is corny,” White said. “How do you feel about the icon of athlete activism wearing an Afro as a Black Panther costume when he was raised by two white parents in Wisconsin? Stop it.”
White didn't stop there. He dismissed Kaepernick’s criticism of Jay-Z and argued that the rapper's influence far outweighed the cultural impact of Kaepernick's national anthem protest.
“Reasonable Doubt had more cultural impact than Kaepernick kneeling,” White said, before accusing Kaepernick’s protest of providing “actual cover for the establishment.”
That assessment represents a striking reversal from White's own words—and actions—in 2020.
Days after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, White emerged as one of the organizers of demonstrations against police brutality in his hometown. According to Newsweek, during one massive march, White helped lead thousands of protesters onto Interstate 35W, where demonstrators collectively took a knee—a gesture unmistakably connected to the protest Kaepernick began years earlier.
White made that connection himself.
“There’s no stronger symbolism in our time right now for protests than what he has already laid the groundwork for,” White said during a June 2020 CNN appearance, calling Kaepernick’s stance “prophetic.”
At the time, White was also blasting professional sports ownership, saying it had become “very clear that Black lives do not matter” to NBA and NFL owners.
Kaepernick began protesting racial injustice and police brutality during the national anthem in 2016, first by sitting and later by kneeling. The demonstration spread to other athletes and became one of the decade's defining intersections of sports, race, and politics.
White's public identity has changed considerably since then. He moved into Republican politics, became Minnesota's Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2024 and sought the nomination again in 2026.
