For white people who condemn Colin Kaepernick’s protest over the national anthem or struggle to accept the Black Lives Matter movement, Bruce Springsteen has some strong words.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, the iconic rocker says some white people have trouble being “told they’re wrong.”

And they are, he says, because they’re not willing to face the extent to which racial injustice and police brutality persist in American society.

It seems that people, who don’t like being told they’re wrong, are the ones having a hard time with Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, protesting racial injustice by taking a knee during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the 67-year-old musician suggested. He added that it’s especially tough for athletes to take controversial political positions.

“Sports is such an escapist field,” he said. “I think when politics or personal expression is injected, it rankles people more than in other fields. But we’re in a time where there isn’t any place where these issues can be excluded. I admire Kaepernick, but it’s a very difficult field to be outspoken in.”

Americans should accept the reasons Kaepernick’s message is resonating, and not just with supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement but increasingly among young athletes at high schools across the country, he explained. Related Articles Kaepernick’s college coach: Didn’t know this Colin Kaepernick

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He points out that Black Lives Matters, which sprung up in response to a rash of police shootings of African Americans, is “a natural outgrowth and response to the injustices that have been occurring for a very long time in the United States.”

“It’s all chickens coming home to roost,” said Springsteen, who currently is in the midst of promoting his memoir Born to Run.”

The New Jersey native added: “These are issues that have been ignored or hidden, and due to modern technology and the availability of cellphone cameras and constant video feed, these things are coming to the surface.”