ESPN: Colin Kaepernick protests anthem due to treatment of minorities

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I don't think you're ignorant Buzz. You at least put some thought in your post. I do think what you're saying is strange though.

The guy speaks out about issues when he already has a foot out of the door of the NFL. He is active in his community. And that is just what I have seen and that's perfectly fine by me. To assume that this is the extent of his activism is naive imo. Also, if you think that these actions don't require effort then it's whatever. That's your opinion. 

Jay Z and Beyonce have donated money to BLM. That got zero press and was only known because it was leaked by one of the activists on twitter. Just because you don't see stuff, doesn't mean it isn't happening. There are a lot of celebrities actually doing things that are not reported on for whatever reason. 

[805RedskinsFan]

6 minutes ago, BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 said:

I don't think you're ignorant Buzz. I do think what you're saying is strange though.

The guy speaks out about issues when he already has a foot out of the door of the NFL. He is active in his community. And that is just what I have seen and that's perfectly fine by me. To assume that this is the extent of his activism is naive imo. Also, if you think that these actions don't require effort then it's whatever. That's your opinion. 

Jay Z and Beyonce have donated money to BLM. That got zero press and was only known because it was leaked by one of the activists on twitter. Just because you don't see stuff, doesn't mean it isn't happening. 

What community is that, Central Valley CA? What has he done? I did see that he runs a charity for a kid's camp, which is awesome.

 

I don't think rational, intelligent people have a problem with his views. I think people have a problem with the way he did it. In this case, it came off as kinda petty and "look at me, look at what I'm doing". He also hasn't cast himself in the best light with his Houston tweet thing, his wanting a trade while in the middle of a decent contract, that time he got rustled and responded to a mean tweet basically threatening the guy when all famous people get hate thrown at them on the internet, as do many non-famous people for their views and thoughts, and normal people don't threaten those people we see it as something not worth our time or energy to respond toward. He doesn't seem like a guy that thinks things through, and just "lives in the now". Kinda like Dory from Finding Nemo.

 

There's also the belief that many have that he didn't grow up oppressed, and he's not oppressed now. Not to say that disqualifies him from protesting oppression against minorities, but he's coming across as though he thinks he spent his life in Cabrini Green in Chicago, or Watts or Bed Stuy.

 

Then there's the fact that he kinda sucks, and should just stfu and continute to ride that Charlie Whitehurst/Matt Cassel gravy train.

[wolfsire]

maybe dude needs to go spend 5 years or so in Africa. Find out what true freedom is about. Our police officers want to go home to their families every night and be there for them. I'm not a public official, but if I was and it came down to me and a violent criminal that is resisting arrest? I'm going home to see my family.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

3 minutes ago, wolfsire said:

maybe dude needs to go spend 5 years or so in Africa. Find out what true freedom is about. Our police officers want to go home to their families every night and be there for them. I'm not a public official, but if I was and it came down to me and a violent criminal that is resisting arrest? I'm going home to see my family.

Yeah 

 

y'all got it. I'm done here lol 

[RonArtest15]

8 minutes ago, wolfsire said:

maybe dude needs to go spend 5 years or so in Africa. Find out what true freedom is about. Our police officers want to go home to their families every night and be there for them. I'm not a public official, but if I was and it came down to me and a violent criminal that is resisting arrest? I'm going home to see my family.

Exhibit A as to why I have no issue with what Kap is doing. 

[wolfsire]

1 hour ago, RonArtest15 said:

Exhibit A as to why I have no issue with what Kap is doing. 

The officer's life means less? Should he allow the law-breaker to beat him down? Take his gun? His Badge? You have to realize that there is no perfect way to deal with violent crime. Every situation is different and in the end, we are human. If a guy makes the choice to hold a little store owner at gun-point and rob him, then he has made the choice to break laws that keep our neighborhoods safe. He held a gun in threat towards another human being. Maybe the little store owner had his life flash before him. His wife. His children. Maybe grandchildren. So if you don't want the law to break bad on your ass, consider other people.

[NickyJ]

3 hours ago, Gibbit said:

I didn't get up from couch during national anthem.

figured id fess up

That's nothing to fess up to. Your lack of action is only to be celebrated/hated if you make millions of dollars.

Or at least, that's what both sides have been arguing so far. I couldn't care less either way. I just feel like calling him the RG3 of the West because of all the bad rep he so easily generates.

[MrSilverMaC]

2 hours ago, wolfsire said:

So if you don't want the law to break bad on your ass, consider other people.

Not just cause your post is laughably bad and easily eviscerated, but, you should probably take your argument to the tailgate police threads. 

You seem to have veered away from the topic of this thread into a more volatile and larger discussion that's already been well established there.

[FrFan]

Colin Kaepernick’s Anthem Protest Was Inspired By Black Lives Matter Movement At the bottom of the article there are NFL players tweets in response to Kaepernick's decision.

Colin Kaepernick Details Racial Struggle From His Childhood

He said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” I think it's a little bit extreme, I wish he could have formulated it differently. Now I'm afraid that his protest might be counterproductive. I know our modern societies are not perfect, Rome wasn't buit in one day, and they are still sources of concern, but with the help of great spiritual leaders such as Martin Luther King and others, I believe USA have made significant steps in the right direction. I understang his concern but I don't think roughing up the feathers of many will help, moreover it has been done before (Chris Jackson aka Abdul Rauf). I believe showing your charisma (Ali) and that you're oftenly very active in your community, and statewide will definitely help your cause. I'm not saying he isn't active with BLM or others, but I know he has been criticized for being imature and that doesn't help the cause he's fighting for.

[justice98]

10 hours ago, grego said:

Alot of red herrings and such here (surprise!).... 

I don't believe anyone is saying there is no more racism in America. Only that when a country has twice elected a half black president, the contention that there is systematic racism (which seems to be what Kaep is saying) rings hollow. 

Anyway, back to the usual partisan and tribal accusations and such..... 

 

 So there's not systematic racism, huh?  lol  Ok.

[Renegade7]

This thread should be moved to the tailgate so it isn't so hard to connect the dots to other things that would lead Colin to do something like this.  

[tshile]

Doing this causes so many issues to intersect I don't see how it does any good.

Fighting racism, or in general poor treatment of a group of people, is noble.

Not showing respect for the national anthem is always risky. In addition to insulting general patriotism, there are people who have fought for that flag, that have been seriously hurt (mentally or physically), or know someone that has died fighting for that flag, and those people will rightfully become outraged. 

Does he do anything else to fight the issue?

Or is he a multi-million dollar, young star that plays x-box, buys cars most of us would dream of driving, and spend his nights at the club with the most attractive women our society has to offer?

Because on one hand it would be drawing attention to an important issue he cares deeply about.

On the other it would be opportunistic bull**** and we seem to see that more often than we'd like to.

As an East coaster who only really follows the Redskins I honestly don't know, but it certainly looks one way...

[RonArtest15]

8 hours ago, wolfsire said:

The officer's life means less? Should he allow the law-breaker to beat him down? Take his gun? His Badge? You have to realize that there is no perfect way to deal with violent crime. Every situation is different and in the end, we are human. If a guy makes the choice to hold a little store owner at gun-point and rob him, then he has made the choice to break laws that keep our neighborhoods safe. He held a gun in threat towards another human being. Maybe the little store owner had his life flash before him. His wife. His children. Maybe grandchildren. So if you don't want the law to break bad on your ass, consider other people.

Exhibit B.

 

[Aireskoi]

It only takes a couple minutes to research what Kaep has been up to since he hooked up with his girlfriend.  He has been converted to a different way of thinking about America.  Coincidentally, he has also converted to a different religion.

 

[justice98]

What none of us should probably be doing is assume his sincerity or lack of other endeavours simply because we couldn't google it quickly and get a page of results.  And people wanna call HIM lazy?  Other than not playing QB that well lately, we don't know what this man is or isn't doing in the community, what he's planning to do, what he's experienced, who he's talked to, etc.

[TheGreatBuzz]

Have you found anything he has done?  Would you agree that if he instead organized a BLM protest and showed up that it would be in the news?  Or that he could give an interview on CNN to express his views?  I think the point is that,because of his being famous, he could bring much more attention to an issue he believes in.  But he doesn't want to/is too lazy/doesn't actually care enough to do something that requires effort.  Instead he just sits there like a disobedient child.

[RonArtest15]

2 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Have you found anything he has done?  Would you agree that if he instead organized a BLM protest and showed up that it would be in the news?  Or that he could give an interview on CNN to express his views?  I think the point is that,because of his being famous, he could bring much more attention to an issue he believes in.  But he doesn't want to/is too lazy/doesn't actually care enough to do something that requires effort.  Instead he just sits there like a disobedient child.

He has expressed his views (albeit on social media.)  Not sure why protesting w/ BLM or giving an interview w/ CNN is the end all/be all for what he can do to be an advocate for minority rights. 

No one was checking for his tweets, posts on IG, etc.  He's a fringe NFL starter who lost his job to Blaine Gabbert.  Not standing for the anthem is a bigger deal AND it has just brought more attention to an issue that he believes in.  He's well within his rights to do this and with racial tensions high in this country, he's got a lot of support. 

[SkinsFTW]

In other Krappernick news... 

 

http://www.porknetwork.com/really-colin-kaepernick-young-pig-farmer-speaks-out

[Ray-Ban Dan]

Sometimes I wonder if some of these guys even know what they're really protesting. I mean, are they even aware that the majority of deaths at the hands of cops, are to white males? Or that in several of these high profile cases, that the cop was actually black? Or that in the Baltimore case, half of the cops were black? Or that in the Missouri case, Michael Brown didn't actually have his hands up when he was shot, and that the death of Brown was caused by his own actions?

I also think a lot of the outrage of black males dying in this country is misdirected. Hundreds of black males continue to die at the hands of other black males each year (specifically in Chicago), yet it's almost never talked about.

Now I'm not saying black males in this country aren't oppressed, I just think people are continuing to go about correcting the problems, all wrong. Kaepernick is just the latest. What good is he doing anyone by sitting for the national anthem? Craziness.

[DC9]

3 hours ago, justice98 said:

 So there's not systematic racism, huh?  lol  Ok.

 

These kinds of comments do nothing.  "Systematic racism" is a cop out.

Watch this for a few minutes.  Really good discussion on the topic overall.

 

[Renegade7]

In case anyone forgot:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/11/arent-more-white-people-than-black-people-killed-by-police-yes-but-no/?utm_term=.9acef3f5d3a3

But as data scientists and policing experts often note, comparing how many or how often white people are killed by police to how many or how often black people are killed by the police is statistically dubious unless you first adjust for population.

According to the most recent census data, there are nearly 160 million more white people in America than there are black people. White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population but only about 49 percent of those who are killed by police officers. African Americans, however, account for 24 percent of those fatally shot and killed by the police despite being just 13 percent of the U.S. population. As The Post noted in a new analysis published last week, that means black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.

U.S. police officers have shot and killed the exact same number of unarmed white people as they have unarmed black people: 50 each. But because the white population is approximately five times larger than the black population, that means unarmed black Americans were five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer.

[LD0506]

I absolutely support athletes and others in the public eye using their status as platform, especially on social issues, go beyond the two dimensional aspect hawked by the media and show us you're actual people. THIS on the other smacks of something else, Kaepernick hooks up with some soi disant "celebrity" from MTV, pretty much by definition an attention whore, and pulls this petulant child crap. You don't **** where you live, doing this on the job is not a particularly acceptable way to express your views. The NBA stars at the ESPYs? Well done. ****ting on the national anthem before a game that pays you millions? Not the best idea.

If he's sincere I'd like to see him do something tangible, on his own time, to lift up the oppressed. "Put your money where your mouth is" is a cliche because it speaks a truth.

There is still a lot of ignorance abroad in our society, racism just one of the expressions of it, and we are all obliged to acknowledge it and work against it, anyone that proclaims American ideals is accountable for them when they fail. Divisive behaviors that stifle conversation instead of fostering it are not helping improve anything.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

Those numbers don't take into account what happened that led up to the shootings though. In many of these cases (most?) we've learned that the person who was shot, didn't follow instructions/was breaking the law. 

But now we're getting off topic though. This thread is supposed to be about what an idiot Kaepernick is.

[Aireskoi]

Leadership is telling people they have the ability to be anything they want to in America if they work hard and believe in themselves.  Teaching youth about cause and effect, and that you create the world you live in with your mindset and attitude.  Someone taught Kap the right way or he wouldn't have made it to the NFL.

Personal accountability can take you pretty far in this country even in a bad economy.  

I would personally never associate or support a group that is anti-police or anti-american.  I have friends and family that wear blue, and also 2 older cousins that died in the line of duty in NYC in the 90's.  My family tree has soldiers in every American war.

I think bad cops should be punished, and I think allegations of systematic racism should be investigated and stopped if true.  Most of it already has, but I'm sure there is work to be done.

[Renegade7]

1 minute ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

Those numbers don't take into account what happened that led up to the shootings though. In many of these cases (most?) we've learned that the person who was shot, didn't follow instructions/was breaking the law. 

But now we're getting off topic though. This thread is supposed to be about what an idiot Kaepernick is.

 

Don't "most" us.  Do some research please, because that's even more insulting to suggest that "most" simply weren't following directions, and that's why unarmed blacks are five times more likely to get shot and killed by police then whites. And this thread should not be about "what an idiot Kaepernick is".  It should be about "why would he do something like this", otherwise, what's the point of protesting?

 

This should be moved to tailgate, because even he said this was bigger then football.  And that's not to say I agree with him sitting during the national anthem, I'm just acknowledging he's taking a helluva risk concerning his livelihood making a decision like this, so based on what I've read (the little information that's out there), I'd lean more to he's aware, does care, and trying versus he has no idea what he's talking about and maybe just wants the attention.