Coronavirus: Colin Kaepernick unveils relief fund to help communities of color, donates $100K

With $100,000 of his own money, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick launched a novel coronavirus relief fund on Thursday, targeting communities of color in need.

"Black and brown communities are being disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 because of hundreds of years of structural racism," Kaepernick, 32, said in a video posted to Twitter.

Structural racism makes Black & Brown ppl more likely to die from #COVID19. @kaepernick7 launched the Know Your Rights Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund to directly impact the disproportionate effect #coronavirus is having on our communities. #WeGotUs 🖤✊🏾 Donate: https://t.co/drZYeE3a3O pic.twitter.com/vZwsu38nro
— Know Your Rights Camp (@yourrightscamp) April 16, 2020

Kaepernick's project is an outreach of his youth initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, and was launched in direct response to recent revelations regarding the disproportionate toll the coronavirus appears to be taking on African-American communities across the nation.

According to The Washington Post, majority-black counties have three times the rate of COVID-19 infections and nearly six times the virus-related death rate as their white counterparts.

"We need each other now more than ever," Kaepernick wrote on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

We need each other now more than ever. I’m donating $100,000 to the Know Your Rights Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund. This Fund was created to raise money and awareness to the disproportionate impact this pandemic is having on Black and Brown communities. Join us in our mission‬ 🖤✊🏾 Use the hashtag #WeGotUs and tag @yourrightscamp after you donate so we can show you some love — link in bio!

A post shared by colin kaepernick (@kaepernick7) on Apr 16, 2020 at 8:26am PDT