Members of a national fraternity have plans for today’s Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings game at Ford Field, where they’ll stage a protest to support their fellow fraternity brother, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
This is the second time the Detroit alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi will gather to show support for Kaepernick outside a Lions game. The group held a similar protest in September.
Organizer Eric Brown says downtown Detroit will be a high-visibility spot, with the Lions’ annual Thanksgiving Day game and the city’s annual parade.
It’s an opportunity to spotlight what Brown calls Kaepernick’s true cause: protesting mistreatment and discrimination against people of color, especially at the hands of police and the justice system.
“Just so people can remember what the cause is all about,” Brown said. “We have to have a system where there’s equal justice, and people are treated equally.”
Brown says President Trump’s continued attacks on NFL players who followed Kaepernick’s lead have clouded the social issues that sparked his initial protests.
“This is not about Colin Kaepernick’s career. It has never been about being disrespectful to the flag, or being unpatriotic,” Brown said. “It was definitely never about politics.”
The national chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi has stated its support for Kaepernick, who joined the fraternity while playing football at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Brown says the September protest drew a mixed reaction. While the group got some negative catcalls as Detroit Police escorted them on a walk to Ford Field, he says many Lions fans were supportive and thanked the group for coming out.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story mis-identified the fraternity on a second reference. The error has been corrected.
