Whether one supports the position or actions of Colin Kaepernick or not, the bits of Twitter counter-argument to his position, cited in the article, are not exactly Socratean in their brilliance:
1. That Kaepernick makes millions of dollars personally says nothing about the breadth of black experience in the US or issues of police killings of blacks — or even what his personal experience has been off the field. Put another way, the counter-argument "Blacks face no racism in the US because Colin Kaepernick gets a lot of money playing football" is, on the face of it, silly.
2. Is there significant black-on-black violence? Certainly. Does that excuse violence by police against blacks, or mean that allegations of systemic racism in some police departments shouldn't be looked at, even though those police are representing the forces of law and order as hired and paid for by the citizenry? Certainly not.
Put another way, if someone believes that the official forces of law and order in our society, the ones who are authorized by our nation to use violence against criminals, are targeting blacks for unjust treatment, protest against that seems perfectly legit, even if there are other goings-on that are racking up a higher body count. One might similarly ask if sending angry Tweets about a pro athlete's political actions instead of working to support a cause (hell, any cause) that results in actual human deaths makes the Tweeter a "selective activist."
3. That Kaepernick continues to live in the US doesn't mean that he is a hypocrite or should just shut up. To use a trivial example, people complain about their jobs all the time — sometimes righteously — without looking for a new one or with any certainty that another workplace would be better. Similarly, someone can criticize — even deeply criticize — the nation of their birth without being obliged to move elsewhere. "America: Love It or Leave It" doesn't make any more sense today than it did in the 60s, especially from a bunch of people who likely support a guy running for president on the proposition that America is no longer "great."
4. Finally, and, one would hope, most obviously, If your counter-argument about allegations of societal racism is to call the black man making such allegations a "nigger," I fear you have well and truly missed the point.
