NEW YORK (AA) – A major grocery chain issued an apology Friday after sending a teen worker home for wearing the jersey of a National Football League (NFL) player who has staged silent protests against racial injustice.
Kroger has allowed its employees to “show your true colors by wearing your NFL gear” on Sundays since the start of the football season last week.
But when 16-year-old Elijah Scott chose to wear his Colin Kaepernick jersey to work in Springfield, Ohio, last Sunday, he was sent home by his supervisor after a customer complained.
Elijah, who was forced to return home and change into a Kroger shirt, later posted a Snapchat image of the store’s “NFL gear” notice, saying, “I broke no rules.”
A Kroger statement confirmed the incident Friday, apologizing to the family and promising to allow Elijah to wear the jersey in the future.
“We are proud and privileged to employ a workforce and to serve a customer base as diverse as America,” Patty Leesemann, a Kroger spokeswoman, said in the statement. “We are aware of this situation and have apologized to Elijah and his mother. Diversity, inclusion and respect are among our company’s core values and ones we strive to live up to every day.”
Leesemann also said the family has accepted the apology.
Kaepernick, 28, who plays as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, chose to sit down rather than stand during the national anthem in a preseason game last month to protest racial injustice.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he said at the time. The league said players were “encouraged but not required to stand”.
Since then, he knelt whenever The Star-Spangled Banner was played before each game, including the team’s season opener Monday night.
His protest has been met with a mixture of criticism for what some perceive as disrespectful behavior, while others defend his right to protest. Still, some have chosen to join Kapernick, including teammate Eric Reid and others players around the league.
Last week, a women’s football player Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem in what she said was a “little nod to Kaepernick”.
Earlier this week, all the players on two high school teams — one in Camden, New Jersey, and the other in San Francisco — went down to one knee to join the protest.
