Not standing up for the national anthem part 2
larryfisherman
California
This is a follow up Londonguy's thread about San Fransisco QB Colin Kaepernick refusing to stand for the national anthem.
Kaepernick has gotten villified for it, but it looks like he also has a lot of support as well. Just the other day president Obama defended him, and now some athletes are following his lead. USA womens soccer star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the anthem as a nod to Kaepernick. Some NFL players are now following Kap's lead. One of the most surprising things is that he now has the most popular selling jersey in the NFL.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colin-…
Think about that. A backup QB for a shitty team has the number one selling jersey in the NFL.
My stance was that he had the right to not stand, but that I thought he was just doing it for attention, and I thought his protest wasn't gonna make any impact. I was wrong on both counts. I looked at his social media accounts, and he's been tweeting about civil rights and whatnot for a LONG time. His protest is getting people to talk about what's wrong with America, and how we can help to change it.
This is a extended quote from him when he talked about not standing for the national anthem.
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "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."
Kaepernick also pledges to donate 1 million to charities.
I gotta salute Kaepernick. It took guts to stand up for something he believes in, when it's a very unpopular thing to do, when he has endorsements that he could lose by doing this, it could turn himself into the enemy.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Kaepernick has gotten villified for it, but it looks like he also has a lot of support as well. Just the other day president Obama defended him, and now some athletes are following his lead. USA womens soccer star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the anthem as a nod to Kaepernick. Some NFL players are now following Kap's lead. One of the most surprising things is that he now has the most popular selling jersey in the NFL.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colin-…
Think about that. A backup QB for a shitty team has the number one selling jersey in the NFL.
My stance was that he had the right to not stand, but that I thought he was just doing it for attention, and I thought his protest wasn't gonna make any impact. I was wrong on both counts. I looked at his social media accounts, and he's been tweeting about civil rights and whatnot for a LONG time. His protest is getting people to talk about what's wrong with America, and how we can help to change it.
This is a extended quote from him when he talked about not standing for the national anthem.
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "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."
Kaepernick also pledges to donate 1 million to charities.
I gotta salute Kaepernick. It took guts to stand up for something he believes in, when it's a very unpopular thing to do, when he has endorsements that he could lose by doing this, it could turn himself into the enemy.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Got something to say?
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43 comments
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colin-…
Doesn't turn him into my enemy, just doesn't make any difference to me what he does. I might support his statements if I was willing to listen, but going about it in that fashion makes me unwilling to listen to him.
Now that you know more about the situation, and you see the reaction, does your opinion stay the same?
Also are you surprised at the support he's gotten? As far as the president of the United States supporting him, fellow athletes and musicians supporting him, and lots of people buying his jersey now.
“I think there are a lot of ways you can do it. As a general matter, when it comes to the flag and the national anthem and the meaning that that holds for our men and women in uniform and those who fought for us, that is a tough thing for them to get past to then hear what his deeper concerns are. But I don’t doubt his sincerity based on what I’ve heard,” he said.
not exactly a ringing endorsement of his methodology.
I would like it if they removed all these shows of allegiance from pro-sports.
SJG
Race relations need to continue to improve in this country; but the way he decided to do it IMO is pure BLM leftist shit and sorta throwing out the baby w/ the bathwater - IMO this is a case of the ends not justifying the means and IMO will cause further division instead of the other way around.
I don't think politicizing the ideals of our country is ever a good idea. You're not un-American if you hate Obama, Trump, Clinto (both), W, etc. There will always be problems in our country, and the whole point is we are free to talk about them to try and make things better. I find showing respect for our flag as transcending politics. Unless you show disrespect on a national stage that is. It just cheapens the whole idea of America to do that.
Flagooner, I don't know if "funny" is the right word. It certainly is interesting, though, because he explained his reasoning after the first time he did it, some people just refused to hear it, which is very telling about how many Americans would rather dodge the actual issue behind the protest.
Kaepernick has pledged to donate his first millions dollars this year to charities and organizations that will help his cause --- he even mentioned veterans and explained how the country needs to do more for them when they come home (especially regarding mental health). Also, since his jersey sales have skyrocketed as a result of this (Kaepernick's jersey is the number one seller on the online nfl store), he also plans to donate the extra jersey money.
Haha.
With that said, I'm glad he's bringing more awareness to the issue.
Kaepernick and several others could learn a lot about committing day to day life to a cause like Clayton Bigsby did. Long live Clayton Bigsby, a true example of what it means to fight for rights!
Interesting that this pledge only occurred after his image took a major hit.
While $1M is a huge sum of money (it is a lot of money for anyone to voluntarily give away), it's not like it will impact his lifestyle. He'll still take home several million dollars this year for holding a clipboard.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/article…
The irony is if the right wing media hadn't made a thing of it, it would have gone away.
I actually have a habit of doing something similar whenever police are harassing or unnecessarily pulling over any friend of mine. I talk to them using correct legal jargon so they realize I probably know the law more than them, call my lawyer and put him on speaker, and when the cops realize they ain't punking any of my friends or myself and can't arrest anyone for anything that's when I drop it low and throw my ass in a circle after telling them I make at least double what they do. I love twerking in front of police.
SJG
And, people ARE talking about the issues (in fact, other athletes have joined him or voiced their support). Just because you aren't talking about the issues doesn't mean there aren't millions of Americans who are.
Normally I never see that is on television. But last night I stopped in a fast food restaurant. Couldn't hear most of the sound, but they went on for over 10 minutes about Kaepernick's method of protesting, and what he is protesting about. They interviewed Santa Clara's Mayor and Chief of Police. They don't seem to have any problem about any of this. I heard the Mayor say that this is about much bigger issues than what goes on here. So she and the Police Chief seem to accept that there are legitimate issues.
That is quite an accomplishment, getting that on TV news. Most of the time it is just like what Nina has posted, that some Americans refuse to acknowledge important issues.
I don't see that the issue would be getting this much attention without Kaepernick's protests. And the news was saying that Sunday there will be others with him.
For myself, I would like it if the NFL would just eliminate these shows of allegiance from its games.
SJG
Neil Young - A Man Needs A Maid/Heart Of Gold Suite (Live At Massey Hall-1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYANlIfQ…
I am aware there is a problem with the police in this country. I am aware black people think the problem is worse for their race than any other race but I view it as a problem with the police in many parts of the country with everyone they interact with. Black people do get shot and killed more often it seems. Not sure of the facts. However the police are shooting and killing other races too so it's a problem with the police, not only just a race issue, in my opinion.
Another interesting statistic is that cops are twice as likely as the average American to engage in domestic violence; 40% of women marrried to police officers have been victims of domestic violence at the hands of their police officer husbands. That is alarming, and exemplifies the combative and violent nature of America's police force. It needs reform so badly.
Stats can be manipulated to back any position.
Police check points are accepted by the masses. They claim it makes us safer. I feel more worried about the police than I do about drunk drivers or other drivers. About the only thing I get more nervous about are deer running across the road. They don't care what race you are nor what vehicle you are driving. I think I read there are millions of deer just in South Carolina. I almost hit a 6 or 7 foot long cat one time. It was the fastest cat I remember. Resembled a black panther but it was dark.
The US is ranked number 5 or number 6
https://www.raptureready.com/faq/faq690.…
Definition of police state
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_s…
Police state is a term denoting a government that exercises power arbitrarily through the power of the police force.
If you think you don't live in one and have over 100k, try to leave the country with all your money and tell us how your money couldn't leave with you. Most of the monitoring is kept secret unless you've read about it. Our government now has given themselves authority to declare anyone a terrorist and impose any restrictions on such a person without regard to any law if they want to. You can be detained without trial with the patriot act if someone wants to. Police checkpoints etc are just the little things ordinary people see. Many people see the arrogance some police forces have nowadays.
Government agents decided they were going to shut down platinum plus in Greenville. They did. If you say you have nothing to worry about if you do nothing illegal, you're just being naive. The US is not the number one police state. No one is arguing that yet.