Editor’s note: This is a rebuttal to a letter written by Mike Riddle which ran in the Sept. 15 issue of the Courier. Riddle wrote that he is offended by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s actions of public expression, and suggested the Long County School System discontinue its purchase of Nike products because Nike has tapped Kaepernick as the “new face” of the company’s “Just do it” campaign. Mildred Elder disagrees, describing her own personal and painful experience at the receiving end of racism and focuses on Kaepernick’s underlying reasons for his protests. Dear editor: I am Mildred Boyd Elder, an 88-year old retired African American educator. I became physically ill when I read Mike Riddle’s letter. I would like to make one request of him, “Walk in my shoes for a few past years.”