Kaepernick

Free

From https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/29/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-fundamentally-american?client=safari

Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest is fundamentally American

When interviewed after the game, Kaepernick explained: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

In many corners, this didn’t go over well, to say the least. Some people burned their Kaepernick jerseys. Many argued that, while Kaepernick may be right to be upset by the thousands of black and brown people killed by police in the US, protesting the flag was not the appropriate way to create change. Others asked why he hates veterans – still others, why he hates America. Yet more people asked why he can’t just stick to football. But every argument against Kaepernick’s protest is wrong. Every single one.

Furthermore, many of them are racist. And the backlash against Kaepernick displays how everyday Americans who would never consider themselves racist can get caught in acts of white supremacy.

For starters, there is nothing more American than protest. It’s built into our history and our mythology. I imagine that those who think protesting during the National Anthem is un-American think that the Boston Tea Party was a literal tea party with tiny cakes and monogrammed napkins.

Just about every major change in this country to bring America closer to its ideals has been brought about by protest. The women’s suffrage movement, the Montgomery bus boycott, labor protests, the Stonewall riots – how much time do you have? If someone can call a group of armed ranchers occupying federal buildings over cattle grazing rules “patriots” while labeling one man sitting to protest the murder of thousands of American citizens “un-American”, it’s time for them to examine their biases and priorities.

To those arguing that Kaepernick’s protest insults veterans: soldiers did not fight and die for a song or a flag. They fought for many other reasons – American ideals of liberty and equality, access to education, economic opportunities, the draft.

And many of these veterans are people of color, who sacrificed overseas only to come home to a country whose service meant nothing to the police officers who only saw their black skin and deemed them a threat. Veterans like Kenneth Chamberlain Sr, who was shot and killed by police in 2011 when his medic alert necklace was accidentally triggered. Veterans like Anthony Hill, who was shot and killed by police this year while suffering from what relatives described as a nonviolent mental health crisis due to PTSD from serving in Afghanistan. Veterans like Elliott Williams, who was left paralyzed, naked and crying for help, unable to reach food or water, on a jail cell floor for six days in 2011 until he died from his injuries and dehydration. These men signed up to fight for us, and Kaepernick is fighting for them.

And to those who would argue that Kaepernick hates America when he should, as a rich sports star, have no complaints: this is one of the few lines that manages to be condescending, racist and ignorant all at once.

Most black people in America did not choose to be here. Most were brought here against their will and still suffer the socio-economic consequences of being treated for hundreds of years as cattle.

Black men in America are 3.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police, the average white household has 15 times the average net worth of the average black household, one in three black men can expect to see prison in their lifetimes, and the infant mortality rate for black babies is up to three times higher than that of white babies. Despite all this, because Kaepernick happened to win the lottery of talent and circumstance to become a professional athlete, he is supposed to ignore the realities of life for so many others who look like him?

And as to why Colin Kaepernick can’t just stick to football: 68% of professional football players are black, yet only 16% of head coaches are black – and 0% of owners. So if we haven’t been discussing race in football, we’ve been neglecting to do so to the detriment of black players who find that they have little representation in the positions that affect their careers.

Furthermore, the thought that there’s ever a “bad time” to discuss racial oppression and police brutality is incredibly privileged and harmful. Black Americans do not get to decide when to encounter racism and police brutality in America. People have been killed while cosplaying with a toy sword, while reaching for a cellphone, while walking up the stairs to their own apartment. A brown friend of mine was pushed and kicked a few weeks ago by an elderly white lady for daring to walk in front of her in a crosswalk.

We cannot choose when racism affects us, and it is cruel to insist on choosing when discussions of racism affect you. You can be a professional football player, an accountant, a politician, a teacher – if you are black, you cannot escape the harmful and even deadly effects of racism in America. Colin Kaepernick is black every minute of every day of his life, and his money and his fame will not remove that blackness. Nor will they keep him safe when he’s out of uniform.

What Kaepernick has done with his simple protest is brave. He has risked his privilege, his fame and his very career to stand with his fellow black and brown people against the systemic oppression that is literally killing us. This is what team spirit looks like when you look beyond jerseys. This is what American values look like when you stand for all Americans.

brianlux

Free said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

questioning the authenticity of his protest because he isn't making speeches to inner city youth is weak at best. the protest was a way to get attention to the cause. and it might even be less than that. maybe he just didn't feel right inside, standing for it. I don't bow my head during grace at my family dinners. it isn't out of protest. it's because I don't believe in it. and my family should respect my right to not bow my head.

i don't know if part of the cause was attention, but that's not how he presented it after the fact, so we can't go on anything other than what he has publicly stated.

I'm sure he could have afforded a fine if he wanted to put a sticker on his helmet. But his case isn't against the NFL, it's against the state of the nation.

and why give stock to those in uniform who have an issue with his protest, but dismiss those who don't, and openly support his actions? I find that blatantly biased.

I think it's ludicrous to attribute protesting a national anthem with disrespect to those who have served in the military. national anthems are nothing but governmental patriotic indoctrination mechanisms. I have never understood how national anthems got attached to non-international sporting events. it doesn't make any sense to me at all.

from the statement I read, the 49ers front office are firm in their stance of supporting his right to do what he did. Good for them.

I agree with all of this, esp. bolded.

Things you can do in the NFL & not lose fans:

* rape
* homicide
* assault
* domestic violence
* drugs

Things you can't do:

* sit down during nat'l anthem

This!

Cliffy6745

HughFreakingDillon said:

questioning the authenticity of his protest because he isn't making speeches to inner city youth is weak at best. the protest was a way to get attention to the cause. and it might even be less than that. maybe he just didn't feel right inside, standing for it. I don't bow my head during grace at my family dinners. it isn't out of protest. it's because I don't believe in it. and my family should respect my right to not bow my head.

i don't know if part of the cause was attention, but that's not how he presented it after the fact, so we can't go on anything other than what he has publicly stated.

I'm sure he could have afforded a fine if he wanted to put a sticker on his helmet. But his case isn't against the NFL, it's against the state of the nation.

and why give stock to those in uniform who have an issue with his protest, but dismiss those who don't, and openly support his actions? I find that blatantly biased.

I think it's ludicrous to attribute protesting a national anthem with disrespect to those who have served in the military. national anthems are nothing but governmental patriotic indoctrination mechanisms. I have never understood how national anthems got attached to non-international sporting events. it doesn't make any sense to me at all.

from the statement I read, the 49ers front office are firm in their stance of supporting his right to do what he did. Good for them.

Yes, I very much agree with all of this.

InHiding80

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

F Me In The Brain said:

InHiding80 said:

I'm gray on this issue unlike both sides. Yes, he's right about how corrupt Americans are of late but you can love the country even if you hate corrupt people that run it. I would just explain that I support the country in a press conference but disagree with corrupt individuals like Trumpary raping this country.

That doesn't give a right for Trumphadists to diss him because:

In fairness to Trump, he ate a deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's the afternoon of this picture and had a serious case of the Lou's....resulting in his being on the toilet all day.

Kap stinks now & I question his timing.
If he does go on to become a legitimate activist I am happy to take back this judgement and clap for him.

You can tell he's cutting one right in that moment.

Poor guy.

Well, you are what you eat.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

Free said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

questioning the authenticity of his protest because he isn't making speeches to inner city youth is weak at best. the protest was a way to get attention to the cause. and it might even be less than that. maybe he just didn't feel right inside, standing for it. I don't bow my head during grace at my family dinners. it isn't out of protest. it's because I don't believe in it. and my family should respect my right to not bow my head.

i don't know if part of the cause was attention, but that's not how he presented it after the fact, so we can't go on anything other than what he has publicly stated.

I'm sure he could have afforded a fine if he wanted to put a sticker on his helmet. But his case isn't against the NFL, it's against the state of the nation.

and why give stock to those in uniform who have an issue with his protest, but dismiss those who don't, and openly support his actions? I find that blatantly biased.

I think it's ludicrous to attribute protesting a national anthem with disrespect to those who have served in the military. national anthems are nothing but governmental patriotic indoctrination mechanisms. I have never understood how national anthems got attached to non-international sporting events. it doesn't make any sense to me at all.

from the statement I read, the 49ers front office are firm in their stance of supporting his right to do what he did. Good for them.

I agree with all of this, esp. bolded.

Things you can do in the NFL & not lose fans:

* rape
* homicide
* assault
* domestic violence
* drugs

Things you can't do:

* sit down during nat'l anthem

Only in 'Murica.

Who said anything about the NFL losing fans over this?

Do you think the people that took exception to Kap's classless act condone rape, assault, and all those other things you listed? That's weird logic. What a jump.

pjalive21

Kapernick would have never made these statements if he wasn't one foot out the door in SF and attemping to make the organization look bad if they cut him...it was self serving ego driven action...he had a platform as a starter and did nothing but get suspended for calling a black athlete the N-word. This guy has zero credibility to understand what its like being black and growing up in those settings. The worst part? he is being radicalized in Islam by his Egyptian gf and he is acting out. Guys shows up to a presser wearing a Castro t-shirt. This guy needs mental help if anything

im amazed how many people are supporting this guy and don't see through his bullshit...this isn't 1972, this isn't the MLK movement, this isn't any civil rights movement or any justifiable First Amendment right...this is a guy crying out for help

Free

pjalive21 said:

Kapernick would have never made these statements if he wasn't one foot out the door in SF and attemping to make the organization look bad if they cut him...it was self serving ego driven action...he had a platform as a starter and did nothing but get suspended for calling a black athlete the N-word. This guy has zero credibility to understand what its like being black and growing up in those settings. The worst part? he is being radicalized in Islam by his Egyptian gf and he is acting out. Guys shows up to a presser wearing a Castro t-shirt. This guy needs mental help if anything

im amazed how many people are supporting this guy and don't see through his bullshit...this isn't 1972, this isn't the MLK movement, this isn't any civil rights movement or any justifiable First Amendment right...this is a guy crying out for help

Your post says more about you than anything else.

Cliffy6745

Free said:

pjalive21 said:

Kapernick would have never made these statements if he wasn't one foot out the door in SF and attemping to make the organization look bad if they cut him...it was self serving ego driven action...he had a platform as a starter and did nothing but get suspended for calling a black athlete the N-word. This guy has zero credibility to understand what its like being black and growing up in those settings. The worst part? he is being radicalized in Islam by his Egyptian gf and he is acting out. Guys shows up to a presser wearing a Castro t-shirt. This guy needs mental help if anything

im amazed how many people are supporting this guy and don't see through his bullshit...this isn't 1972, this isn't the MLK movement, this isn't any civil rights movement or any justifiable First Amendment right...this is a guy crying out for help

Your post says more about you than anything else.

I agree

Free

Y'all get mad at an athlete...this is your government.



But let's continue to beat down a minority athlete who sat down for awareness and protest. Nothing to see here.

pjalive21

Free said:

pjalive21 said:

Kapernick would have never made these statements if he wasn't one foot out the door in SF and attemping to make the organization look bad if they cut him...it was self serving ego driven action...he had a platform as a starter and did nothing but get suspended for calling a black athlete the N-word. This guy has zero credibility to understand what its like being black and growing up in those settings. The worst part? he is being radicalized in Islam by his Egyptian gf and he is acting out. Guys shows up to a presser wearing a Castro t-shirt. This guy needs mental help if anything

im amazed how many people are supporting this guy and don't see through his bullshit...this isn't 1972, this isn't the MLK movement, this isn't any civil rights movement or any justifiable First Amendment right...this is a guy crying out for help

Your post says more about you than anything else.

yeah it says I can think for myself and see through his BS and not blindly follow someone's empty cause...you wanna believe his cause by all means you and Cliffy can follow it and turn the issue around on me...now that speaks volumes

guys like Kap take away what those did over the years justifiably to fight for an injustice that Kap has never experienced in his life...the same guy suspended for using racial slurs on the field...yup that's the guy I want fighting my cause

gimmesometruth27

Cliffy6745

pjalive21 said:

Free said:

pjalive21 said:

Kapernick would have never made these statements if he wasn't one foot out the door in SF and attemping to make the organization look bad if they cut him...it was self serving ego driven action...he had a platform as a starter and did nothing but get suspended for calling a black athlete the N-word. This guy has zero credibility to understand what its like being black and growing up in those settings. The worst part? he is being radicalized in Islam by his Egyptian gf and he is acting out. Guys shows up to a presser wearing a Castro t-shirt. This guy needs mental help if anything

im amazed how many people are supporting this guy and don't see through his bullshit...this isn't 1972, this isn't the MLK movement, this isn't any civil rights movement or any justifiable First Amendment right...this is a guy crying out for help

Your post says more about you than anything else.

yeah it says I can think for myself and see through his BS and not blindly follow someone's empty cause...you wanna believe his cause by all means you and Cliffy can follow it and turn the issue around on me...now that speaks volumes

guys like Kap take away what those did over the years justifiably to fight for an injustice that Kap has never experienced in his life...the same guy suspended for using racial slurs on the field...yup that's the guy I want fighting my cause

Love how you know all of this guys life experiences...

gimmesometruth27

a former girlfriend of mine who is from australia used to say:

"americans invented 2 things:
1. Patriotism
2. Size 4XL shorts"

it is funny how many people are pissed off about a mediocre football player sitting down during the national anthem. who gives a shit what he has to say?

gimmesometruth27

why do we even play the national anthem at sporting events anyway?

my theory is that they have to, otherwise when else would a group of americans hear that song and get whipped up into how great their country is?

seriously, when, besides sporting events, does your average american even hear that song?

to me playing the anthem at sporting events makes as much sense as playing "god bless america" during the 7th inning stretch.

brianlux

If we have to have a song before each game, why not something baseball related? "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" or or Fogerty's "Centerfield" or or Neil Young, "Hey Babe" (LOL!) Would be so much more fitting, no?

gimmesometruth27

brianlux said:

If we have to have a song before each game, why not something baseball related? "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" or or Fogerty's "Centerfield" or or Neil Young, "Hey Babe" (LOL!) Would be so much more fitting, no?

i agree.

i think the only reason they play it at cardinal games is so some youth or school choirs can go on the field and sing. most times the stadium is only 25% full at the time. nobody cares to hear it.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

gimmesometruth27 said:

why do we even play the national anthem at sporting events anyway?

my theory is that they have to, otherwise when else would a group of americans hear that song and get whipped up into how great their country is?

seriously, when, besides sporting events, does your average american even hear that song?

to me playing the anthem at sporting events makes as much sense as playing "god bless america" during the 7th inning stretch.

I agree that 'God Bless America' in the 7th inning stretch is over the top- not to mention a horribly sounding song that does enforce the patriotism that Kap supporters here allude to.

gimmesometruth27

HesCalledDyer

gimmesometruth27 said:

*Everyone points at butt*

PJfanwillneverleave1

Just out of curiosity how many people that have posted in this thread stands during the national anthem?