PLACERVILLE, Calif. (WSVN) — A California barbershop owner says he had “no idea” the Colin Kaepernick doll hanging from a noose in his store was offensive.
The shop’s owner, identified only as Bowtie Barber, says the doll has been hanging from the ceiling since 2016, when Kaepernick first began kneeling during the national anthem.
“I am a die hard 49ers fan and when that action happened there was a lot portrayed on the 49ers and I took it personally,” he told Fox 40.
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It wasn’t until customer Joe Beezy took a photo of the doll and posted it on social media that the owner realized the display angered people.
“I literally had no idea that I was offending people,” Barber said. “We have a hangman out here called George and so, you know, with the theme of hangtown I hung him. And it was wrong, it was absolutely wrong.”
But even with the owner’s apology, the man who took the photo says the damage has already been done.
“Imagine how many kids have already seen that doll,” Beezy said. “They should be playing in the mud and playing football, not worrying about why Colin Kaepernick is hanging from a dang rope.”
The doll has since been taken down. Barber says this has been a valuable lesson to learn, and says it will never happen again.
“It was the wrong thing for me to do,” he said. “I absolutely see the other side of it. I’m sorry.”
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