This is from last year when Kapernick first did this.
“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.”
How you understand what he said is probably up to you. The way I interpreted at the time is that he considers the U.S. a bad country to live in for minorities.
Ummmm, they are getting their message out, with their own money… on their own time. How are they not? It sounds an awful lot like the first thing you wrote, is a reflection of your true feelings- that black athletes should know their role and shut their mouths.
Damn, have you been holding a tiki torch and using a pillowcase for non pillow related activities recently?
I see nothing in that statement that expresses hate of this country. What I see is someone calling out an issue that many face daily and unless you are a person of color I would not expect you to understand.
Is he wrong? Minorities are time and time again killed by police and police get away with abuse of power. I dont think hes saying he hates America but hes saying hey this bothers me. Keep in mind 80% of these players aint white and many come from areas inflicted by this stuff.
When black folks protest no matter how seems like the message from POTUS is clear…keep quite
Imo its nfl he should spend more time fixing Puerto Rico then poop tweeting bull shit
Hes full of it…transgender military shits on em…dreamers military shits on em…call McCain names…Hears some right wing shit on tv now all the sudden hes mr military…not buying it…hes a huckster just selling his turds to more suckers
Do you actually mean minorities or are you referring to African Americans specifically?
“It’s important to note that black men commit nearly half of all murders in this country, which is astounding when you take into consideration the fact that they only make up 12-13 per cent of the population.” - according to the article, FactCheck: do black Americans commit more crime? – Channel 4 News
We don’t hear Asians/Native Americans/etc ‘complain’ nearly as much, or maybe it’s just me.
You count as a minority but cops don’t seem to have a preconceived impression that you are a danger to their health as they do black men. I have cops in my family and they tell me all the time about the bad apples they work with who stereotype everyone based on race.
Ok, black and Hispanic cowboy. Wasn’t it obvious? Have you ever heard of a Asian being guilty of a DWA? Driving while Asian? Probably not. Have you ever walked down the street and had a Caucasian woman grap her purse when you walked by? Have you ever been quoted a price on the phone using your best white man voice and then get to the business only to have them tell you a higher price? Probably not but these are just a few examples of shit that happens daily.
He’s not wrong, though I think he is pointing to the wrong thing and being far too topical.
I think there are far better examples of systemic racism in the U.S. The way Child Protective Services tend to target black families more and the disjointed way the U.S. legal system is structured when it deals with poor people are better examples.
These are far more insidious and threatening overall. They’re partly what leads to the kind of broken families and life-styles that ultimately contribute to police attitudes towards black Americans.
I’ve had white and black people tell me that the tea my mom made for me to drink at high school looked like urine. The way they phrased it is not as kind as I wrote it here.
I won’t even go into the number of jokes cracked towards how I looked in high school.
I’ve had people shout “chink” at me even though I’m an ethnic Korean.
And, mind you, this all happened in the Bay Area. Supposedly one of the more liberal places in the U.S.
Won’t go into the kind of stuff that my dad faced either, cause they make me see red if I start to think about them too seriously.
I won’t ever claim that I faced anything close to the discrimination and racism that black people face in the U.S. though, cause I know that is flat-out wrong. I can’t even begin to comprehend how it must feel.
Thanks and sorry for your experience, stupidity comes in all colors but it’s just harder to deal with when it comes from a person with a gun and a badge.
If I carry around a flag with a swastika, I don’t get to simply tell people that the flag means love of my fellow man and I chose to carry that flag because I love people.
Symbols have a commonly accepted meaning. The American flag represents America and standing shows respect to that concept.
You can argue and wiggle a little bit as to what exactly it means to kneel instead of to stand (as I wouldn’t say it was common symbol in this context), but it definitely means at a minimum that the kneeler didn’t want to communicate the message that would come from standing. That is, the kneeler didn’t want to communicate a basic message of respect for the concept of America.
Actually, it is the TV coverage of the game that has done this. Like a fan running onto the field, the TV team could simply not show the players kneeling, and no one would be the wiser.
I see your point, but still think discreet can reasonably apply to his actions.
Whatever you think he meant, it’s unfair and misleading to put something as crude, simplistic and disrespectful as ‘America sucks’ or the like in his mouth.
And in some ways, America is a difficult place to live if one is a certain sort of minority, so I think the gist of your interpretation is not far off the mark.
Oh, so we want to bring attention to disparity huh? Well, there is a whole lot of disparity it’s not even publicly permissible to talk about in any medium, maybe someone should give it a voice? Like that black cops are much more likely to use lethal force against black people than white cops? Or that blacks commit a grossly disproportionate amount of crime? Or that a black man is for more likely to kill a cop than be killed by one? Or that cops kill more whites and Latinos than blacks? Or that for a given confrontation whites are more likely to get shot by cops than blacks are? Or what about those racist traffic cameras who somehow without even knowing it disproportionately target blacks for traffic tickets?
Or maybe, disparity isn’t proof of bias…
Or maybe I just don’t like hearing about white privilege from a guy that doesn’t know what it’s like to be white while simultaneously being one of the most extremely privileged people on the planet? Maybe we should talk about the very real, systematic, statistically verifiable athlete privilege Kapernick benefits from and how he needs to acknowledge that and work to undo this bias for future generations?
Is this a good thing? Is airing your personal grievances what this moment should be all about?
Perhaps we should have a moment of complaining before the anthem is played at public events. Let’s give everybody a chance to have the attention on themselves so they can say whatever it is they think is important.
Just take a knee to show that something’s bothering you, then you get a microphone to say whatever that is. When you’re done, pass it along to the next person on their knees and they can have their say. Be sure to plan ahead and set aside enough time, because nobody’s opinions deserve to be ignored. Especially people who play games for money.
