Jemele Hill, an ESPN commentator, made the remarks Friday on Twitter

An ESPN commentator has been slammed for comparing police officers to the 'slave patrols' that enforced discipline on pre-Civil War plantations.

Jemele Hill, who co-hosts the 6pm hour of SportsCenter, made the remarks Friday on Twitter, echoing comments the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made last month.

Hill was lamenting that Kaepernick, who has struggled to find a new contract after making repeated headlines for his protests against the treatment of non-whites, had not been signed by the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens, looking for a passer after quarterback Joe Flacco suffered a back injury, instead signed complete unknown David Olson, who completed three passes in college and most recently played arena football in Kansas City.

Hill lamented that Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, had not been signed by the Baltimore Ravens or any other team after turning free agent

Kaepernick (number seven) courted controversy last season by refusing to stand for The Star-Spangled Banner before NFL games, and has struggled to find a new contract in the off-season

'Oh and ICYMI, the Ravens signed a dude who quit football to be a realtor and played in 2 games in college over a Super Bowl QB,' Hill tweeted, referring to Kaepernick's starting quarterback role in the 2013 season, in which the 49ers lost the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks.

'I feel like it's been forgotten that he basically called (all) cops "slave patrol" a month ago. I mean, that's pretty inflammatory,' responded Nathanael Johnson, offering a possible rationale for the Raven's decision.

In June, Kaepernick, responding to the jury verdict that acquitted the police officer who shot Philando Castile, posted a picture that showed similarly shaped badges reading 'Runaway Slave Patrol' and 'Police Officer'.

Slave patrols were groups of white men who used force and violence to impose discipline on the black slave populations of antebellum plantations in the southern states.

Hill said the comparison of police to 'slave patrols' was 'inflammatory, but historically accurate'

In June, Kaepernick posted this tweet responding to the jury verdict that acquitted the police officer who shot Philando Castile

'Inflammatory, but historically accurate,' Hill responded to Johnson's comment, endorsing the comparison.

Johnson replied: 'There's historically truth there, yes ... but is it fair to say now to all the cops, esp when many minorities serve?'

Hill appeared to backpedal a bit, turning her comments from police officers to the 'system'.

'I wouldn't say all, but it's been clear for a long time the policing & judicial system are institutionally racist,' Hill wrote.

Hill has responded to claims that ESPN is increasingly pushing a 'liberal' political agenda

Amid subscriber losses, ESPN has increasingly been accused of pushing a 'liberal' political agenda, accusations Hill has often been at the center of.

She responded to these claims at a conference in Manhattan last month.

'Sports have always been political,' Hill said in remarks reported by Yahoo Finance.

Hill said that athletes often push political agendas, 'dragging' sports journalists who cover them along with them.

She also implied that complaints over the alleged liberal bent were really racist sentiment in disguise.

'As you see more ethnic diversity, then all of a sudden ESPN is too liberal,' she said. 'So I wonder, when people say that, what they’re really saying.'