Jemele Hill says Marcellus Wiley took the debate on Colin Kaepernick to "an ignorant place" by insinuating Kap isn't Black enough to lead the charge on social justice.
We got Hill at LAX and asked her about Wiley's recent appearance on Van Lathan's 'Red Pill Podcast' where Wiley said he thought Kaepernick was wrong for kneeling in the first place.
Hill said Wiley -- who who she considers a friend -- is entitled to his opinion on Kap's protest, but is NOT entitled to question the QB's status as a member of the African-American community.
"My only disappointment in what Marcellus said is that he pivoted the conversation to kind of an ignorant place."
"Reasonable minds can differ, so if we have a difference of opinion that's totally fine. Just don't pivot it to an ignorant place where we're talking about somebody's blackness."
Jemele is talking about a specific statement Wiley made on his FS1 show, "Speak For Yourself," where he said Kaepernick didn't have a connection to the black struggle, because he's a mixed race and his adopted family is white.
Hill thinks that type of criticism is totally out of bounds, and actually hurtful to the black community overall.
"Whenever we start having a who's blacker than who conversation, that's when we get into trouble."
We also asked Hill if she thinks we'll ever see Kap back in the NFL and she says definitely "No" -- explaining why Donald Trump effectively put an end to his pro football career.
Don't get it twisted, Hill is ADAMANT Kap has the talent to play in the league -- but thinks there are too many "cowardly" owners who are afraid to go up against POTUS.
Despite the uphill battle, Kaepernick is still training like a maniac -- recently throwing with Odell Beckham -- and we're told he's still dead serious about making a comeback.