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And they prove this by reacting the way they do to everyone who responds in an "All Lives Matter" sense.
That's because "ALM" is not a movement but a mere retort that doesn't allow for introspection or inclusive action.
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I believe some gentleman in the Sacramento sports media - clearly no racist by any means - lost his job the other day for making the mistake of saying something of the gist.
Actual current and former Kings players would disagree with your assessment of the fired announcer.
They jealously guard the victim status in their narrative only to members of their own racial group.
Perhaps the biggest mistake that BLM made was not adding a "T" for "Too". Most all Black people know the "too" was inferred. So do Latinx and Native people who started similar Brown Lives Matter and Native Lives Matter movements, respectfully. Even a plurality of White people understand. No I take that back: I think actually most all White people understand but allowed themselves to be swayed by an "ALM" narrative that allows them to avoid the aforementioned introspection or action.
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And it truly is racial of course - Kaepernick is a privileged multi-millionaire who grew up as a member of the middle class raised by white parents. His 'link' to the problem is essentially just his 50% African DNA, not his life experience or circumstances. He's in a better position in life than the majority of non-black people in the country.
We are not materially far removed from the "one drop" rule where a person with any discernible African heritage - even if they were mostly White - was considered Black. An even better example of this than Kap is former President Barack Obama whose history-making accomplishment was diluted by some who tried to emphasize his maternal lineage. Some of those same people - or their friends - would go on to claim that Obama was actually a Kenyan citizen, an obvious dogwhistle. So the talking out of both sides of one's mouth leaves the idea of focusing on a biracial person's majority heritage is specious.
Blacks of all socioeconomic status are under threat of racism and prejudice, including being harassed and killed by police. Kap himself has a story about being threatened by police while attending Wisconsin. Chris Rock, Forest Whitaker, Oprah (albeit in France), lesser-known athletes and celebrities as well as everyday affluent African-Americans have been harassed by cops and business owners and the general public. While they may have the resources to live in a comfortable haven from such treatment, poor-to-middle-class Blacks do not.
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If non-black people are advised that they cannot be victims here, and if they're white they're told they're far more likely to be the problem, then that of course has little to do with police reform but advocacy for a particular racial group.
Interesting that you should mention that. From the late 1800's through the middle of the 20th century, Blacks were assaulted, lynched and executed on the premise of White women being potential or alleged victims of rape by Black men. George Stinney and Emmett Till are the most horrifying example of that.
Other people of color can indeed be victims of police brutality let alone White racism. Beyond Native and Latinx people, you have Asians/Pacific Islanders who have been most recently been broad-brushed as original carriers of the coronavirus as well as Middle Easterners who are assumed to be all Muslim and therefore "bad".
BLM, in case you may have skimmed over the initial link, is against White supremacy which is expressed, among other ways, through police brutality.
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I see cops every day, or used to before Covid anyway, many of them not white, in fact a fairly major % being black. Black cops have been involved in a good few of such incidents. So have Asian and hispanic cops. And of course on the flip side - many people getting manhandled or shot by police aren't black.
Yes, there are increasingly Black cops and other cops of color. What may have been initially an attempt for job opportunities and to provide a bridge to minority communities has largely turned into protecting the "Blue" (aka "White") status quo. Too many Black cops, whether by pressure or by absorbing culture, have adopted the mindset that Black citizens are guilty before being proven innocent.
"Many" people shot by police may not be Black. Other people of color are also assaulted and killed disproportionately by police as are Blacks. There may even be a raw number of Whites experiencing such humiliation and tragedy. If White (family) survivors of such harm were to band together with BLM, they could benefit from the goal of eliminating police brutality against everyone.
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A few months ago, a young white gentleman was shot in contentious circumstances at home in the middle of the night by police in suburban Maryland. His girlfriend was injured as well. This was a SWAT 4 am raid on someone's house...not a street interaction. The family insisted that he had not acted aggressively, and in fact may have been asleep when the SWAT team came in in the middle of the night. The young man was an 'online troll' and neighbors had reported him as hoarding weapons. Provocative online posting and neighbors 'snitching' was all it took to trigger a massive military-style police response. But this was a blip on the local news. Hardly anyone cared, no protests, no coverage, not even any further media investigation. Wrong type of victim.
It's unfortunate that you didn't provide a link to a news story about the article. Some aspects sound very similar to the tragedy of Breonna Taylor. The last half of my previous paragraph would seem to apply here as well.
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You can make an excellent non-racial case for police reform. Colin Kaepernick and BLM choose not to make this case, they choose to make a topically much broader case for black interests. Because if we're entirely honest, the issue affecting this country's black population the most isn't police brutality, it's poverty. A subject Colin Kaepernick however knows rather little about.
It looks like I did make a case above. To say that Kap and BLM as a whole don't care about police brutality against White people let alone anyone not Black is ludicrious. Your honesty may be your own as it's not accurate. Poverty and police brutality have been perennial issues for Black, Latinx and Native Americans for over 400 years. It's obviously that your research into Kap's involvement in the Black community has been minimal.
You can't really have a logical conversation with people who still kneels because they believe they are martyrs.
You can't really have a logical conversation with people who redirect a protest about police brutality because they believe they are martyrs.
How does that sound to you?
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But what they don't understand is that if you fight the country with your beliefs. You have to be able to win the court of public opinions or else you are either ignored or killed off like they do in the past. In a democracy where the majority rules they'll be casted as an outlier.
This is where I find myself in the interesting position of emulating my friends who like to remind me that this nation is a republic which often but not always acts as a democracy. If democracy truly ruled, the last 3 1/2 years would have gone a lot differently and we likely wouldn't be having this conversation.
As it is, the majority represents those who founded the latest iteration of this land: White men as well as White women that tend to agree with them.
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Which is what Kapernick is really just another black guy that learns how to profit from race baiting issues.
He hasn't been paid by the NFL for four years. He's presumably living off his Nike contract while hoping that a team would ignore the informal blackballing and give him a legitimate shot at making the team. Goodell effectively gave the seal of approval to allow that to happen but it might be a season too late.
We could talk about who is the most egregious "race baiter" right now...but that's a whole separate debate.
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If he really was serious about black inequality than why did he take the NFL money and recluse himself from NFL affairs?
Most NFL players are Black. Most NFL coaches are not Black and there are no Black team owners. So there are incentives for him and other allied athletes (including Chris Long, Howie's son who was an Eagle at the time) to keep playing if they have the opportunity.
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The more black people kneels the more money Kapernick will make later on. Anytime Nike or another company wants to use the kneeling they gotta pay Kapernick.
I'm pretty sure most Black people - awaiting someone to post a Trumpian outlier - won't mind making more money. I'm sure most appreciate him sacrificing the prime of his career to stand up for a cause.
Kap hasn't trademarked his kneeling like Jordan's Jumpman insignia. It's certainly true that when people of all colors kneeled this past week, they were thinking of Kap. Hopefully they were also thinking of Nate Boyer.
Last edited by FindingZen; 06-06-2020 at 10:18 AM..
I guess if you are only focused on certain issues, you will never feel pride in your country.
Let's ask why our country doesn't treat all of its citizens and residents equally? And doesn't even properly enforce the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.
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Why don't people actually do some good for communities that are filled with crime? Protesting and kneeling are so lazy. Here is a thought, open up a gym in a bad area and start mentoring. Do something meaningful, not as lazy as kneeling or protesting. They really do NOTHING and people look like lazy dopes that like to whine a lot and not get their hands dirty.
I did note above that it was strange that they are using a historical method of submission by "taking the knee". Just looked it up:
From Wiki: Kaepernick and his 49ers teammate Eric Reid said they choose to kneel during the anthem to call attention to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality. "After hours of careful consideration, and even a visit from Nate Boyer, a retired Green Beret and former NFL player, we came to the conclusion that we should kneel, rather than sit, ... during the anthem, as a peaceful protest," said Reid. "We chose to kneel because it's a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy."
That indeed puts into context taking the knee then. I was thinking why don't they just turn there backs or something (which truly would be disrespectful). Mark me down as just learning something. Not sure I still agree, but I understand the context now. Thanks.
This is what Brees was told when it first began. But now he is feigning ignorance which of course is no excuse. It was in his best interest to apologize for many reasons including self preservation as his offensive line might forget to block.
Last edited by Rastafellow; 06-06-2020 at 12:41 PM..
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I respect my country. The flag deserves respect only as it symbolizes the country, not as a piece of cloth.
It seems to me that the flag has come to symbolize something other than our democracy. It's frequently displayed (on ripped tee shirts or dirty bumper stickers) by people who claim to be patriotic, but want to repress all viewpoints different from their own. They point to their ragged, stained banner as if just owning that bit of cloth gives them the moral high ground.
I think peaceful protest is extremely patriotic. This is a democracy. That means standing up (or kneeling) for what you believe in.
Exactly! Those offended are no different than the flag pin wearers who are projecting fake patriotism.
He apologized for incorrectly accusing the kneeling players of disrespecting the flag. Because it was never about disrespecting the flag. It's always been about protesting police killing unarmed detainees.
Both of my grandfathers served in WW1. My father and both uncles served in WW2. I'm a Vietnam era vet, even though I wasn't sent over and didn't see combat. Both of my brothers served, one in the Army, the other in the AF.
I have issues with rogue cops killing unarmed detainees.
If you don't see that's the issue and has no connection to this bogus "disrespecting the flag" nonsense, then it's time to reconsider your position.
This is stated so clearly, it really should be the end of this thread! I am about as far left as it's possible to be, and I agree that Mr. Brees has every right to express his opinion, no matter how strongly I may disagree with him/it. If he reconsidered part of his statement and felt he should apologize to his teammates, or whomever, that is also his right. So, what is the big argument about?
A football player that bigoted Laura Ingraham defended because of the color of his skin. She feels that his opinion is more important that Lebron's. So she told Lebron to "just dribble the ball." She's been called out for not telling Drew to just "pass the ball."
Last edited by Rastafellow; 06-06-2020 at 01:05 PM..
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The only problem with Drew Brees is that he plays in a black dominant sport, almost 80% of the players are black so we got a problem here. The highest paid athletes in NFL and NBA are all black and they complain about inequality? They've got both agents and managers on their knees ready to lick the black athletes feet as long as they play ball. What we have is black players with too much privilege sounding off against the minority players now which happened to be white. I don't pay the NFL, NBA, MLB a dime so I don't patronize sports with players using these platforms to support their political views.
Thank God the World Cup and soccer doesn't have a racial political problem.
Not world football (soccer). Based on all your posts, you would be very comfortable with NASCAR. Fits perfectly!
Who took away whose rights and freedoms? Drew Brees is a grown man. He lacked the guts to stand in his own statements. No one took anything from him.
Everyone has rights in this situation. Drew Brees has the right to say whatever he wishes. Other people have the right to react however they wish. So what's the problem?
i always chuckle when self-annointed constitution experts proselytize when private companies or websites are taking away their freedom of speech.
He hasn't been paid by the NFL for four years. He's presumably living off his Nike contract while hoping that a team would ignore the informal blackballing and give him a legitimate shot at making the team. Goodell effectively gave the seal of approval to allow that to happen but it might be a season too late.
We could talk about who is the most egregious "race baiter" right now...but that's a whole separate debate.
Most NFL players are Black. Most NFL coaches are not Black and there are no Black team owners. So there are incentives for him and other allied athletes (including Chris Long, Howie's son who was an Eagle at the time) to keep playing if they have the opportunity.
That is not true at all, Kapernick has been paid off by the NFL to go away.
The inside word from many sports agents was that he was paid $25 million to basically not mention anything to with the NFL and he has gotten another $10 million from Nike. This is a guy who was supposed to keep up the fight but now he can't go out and file grievances or complain about NFL inequality anymore.
A lot of coaches are black, look at Mike Tomlin of the Steelers, Marvin Lewis for the Bengels are long time coaches as well as the great Colts coach Tony Dungy.
The fact is the blacks are the minority of the country but they are a majority of the players in sports, so that's inequality? There are players that are not black that don't get the job but that's not news worthy. The hippocrasy here is that blacks don't really want equality, that want complete ownership and control of the sports. That's what many sports ownerships are fighting against players who are trying to take control of the sport for themselves.
I think you like many are exaggerating the inequalities. The athletes are paid employees of NFL franchises who are here to entertain not put political news stories on the playing field, end of story.
If I am a NFL spectator, I did not pay $200/ticket just to see someone knee and throw their fists to protest the flag while everybody else is saluting the nation. If you want to protest, that's on your own dime to go protest but not at my expense. How would you like that if everybody does that in school or at churches? We might as well not have any conformity at all and not call this the USA. Because it's a democracy you can call this country whatever you want right? Since people want to embrace their freedom of speech.
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