Programming note: Tune in to "Race in America: A Candid Conversation" on Friday, July 24 on NBC Sports Bay Area after "Giants Postgame Live" and NBC Sports California after "A's Postgame Live."
As part of his listening tour after getting hired by the Giants in November, Gabe Kapler met individually with some season-ticket holders. The manager knew that he was not the most popular hire, but Kapler wanted to get to know the fan base and to immediately start the process of trying to prove that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made the right choice.
Kapler won over a lot of fans over the past week before ever making a lineup or a pitching change. This is a region that embraces coaches and managers who speak up for the right causes -- as Steve Kerr has proven -- and Kapler did so powerfully by taking a knee Monday and Tuesday before exhibitions and again before Thursday's season opener.
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But there also are Giants fans who vehemently disagreed with what they saw. You don't have to do much searching on Twitter to find someone who claims they're "done with the organization." One video surfaced of a fan burning Giants hats.
The "stick to sports" crowd is vocal, but during an interview Tuesday for "Race in America: A Candid Conversation," Kapler said he will continue to speak out. Logan Murdock brought up the concept of "disrespecting the flag" and asked Kapler what he would say to people who are actively against the Giants mixing politics and sports.
"I’m glad you asked that question. I think the messages people send in those situations coincide almost always with, that action is anti-America, or it's anti-military or it’s unpatriotic," Kapler said. "And I think that Colin Kaepernick's belief and Bruce Maxwell’s belief and everybody else that has ever protested during a national anthem’s belief, is that this is the most American thing we can do. The most American thing we can do is express ourselves. Peacefully protest, say I’m not OK with the way things are going right now."
Kapler has not backed down at all since first taking a knee Monday. At 1 a.m. the night before his first real game with the Giants, Kapler tweeted out a message about injustice in this country. Before Thursday's game on national television, he took a knee with Jaylin Davis, Mike Yastrzesmki, Pablo Sandoval, Hunter Pence and others.
[RELATED: Giants' Coonrod reveals why he didn't kneel in BLM moment]
Kapler can do all of this in part because he has the backing of his bosses. Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris have both come out in support of the movement, and Zaidi sent out a statement Monday night supporting the actions of players and coaches. Kapler and Zaidi have worked together for years, and Kapler said the conversation about kneeling went exactly how he thought it would.
San Francisco Giants
"The coolest thing about what happened (Monday) night is that Farhan came in with his statement on behalf of an organization to strongly support the players who decided to take a knee and staff members who decided to take a knee, and there were a few more that weren’t recorded and caught on camera that decided to take that stance as well," he said. "I couldn’t have been prouder of the Giants organization, and I couldn't have been prouder of our players and staff for the conversations that led up to that moment."
[RACE IN AMERICA: Listen to the latest episode]