The state Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday to honor prominent black Americans during Black History Month in February — but only after Republicans blocked it until black Democratic lawmakers agreed to remove the name of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Democratic Rep. David Crowley of Milwaukee, who authored the resolution, called the episode "a textbook example of white privilege" and a "slap in the face."
"Many of these people that you don’t agree with will still be in the history books that your children and grandchildren will be reading," Crowley said on the Assembly floor.
Kaepernick, who was born in Milwaukee, has drawn a firestorm of controversy after he began kneeling in 2016 during the national anthem to protest poor treatment of black Americans.
Supporters say Kaepernick is exercising his First Amendment right to protest what he sees as racial injustice. Critics say he is denigrating the American flag and American principles.
