Colin Kaepernick — via Facebook.
I keep running into people who insist that Amerikka is post-sexist and post-racist. I have no idea how they keep this delusional illusion in their heads, because every day, we are drowning in evidence that’s not so. Rapists continue to receive slaps on the wrist, and racists continue to shout their bigotry to the skies. The latest example is the reaction to Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the anthem.
In a post-game interview on the NFL Network, Kaepernick explained that he was taking a different kind of stand, referencing Black Lives Matter in a roundabout way.
“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 reporters. “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.”
Criticism on Twitter ran from attacks on Kaepernick by questioning his patriotism in light of the millions he earns as an NFL star, to extensive use of the “N-word” from racists who are a source of many of the problems African Americans face in the U.S,.
Some of the tweets are below the fold, because they are explicit and vile.
This nigger Colin Kaepernick has a $114M contract to throw a fucking ball. Yeah, blacks are so oppressed in America.
— AdolfJoeBiden™ (@Bidenshairplugz) August 27, 2016
Colin Kaepernick is "keepin it real" and gets the prestigious "nigger of the day" award overtaking Will Smith in hardcore nigger status.
— nate (@bloodandsoil5) August 27, 2016
Blatant disrespect doesn't work well for impacting change. Feel free to find a country that supports you better. #Colin Kaepernick
— Paul Hoffman (@papac00772) August 27, 2016
Colin Kaepernick can leave the millions he made IN the United States and go to another country. What a joke.
— Shauna (@_ShaunaAlexis) August 27, 2016
Via Raw Story.
Twitter’s proof that you can fill a vacuum and it still sucks.
Maybe Kaepernick could call himself a Sovereign Citizen.
That would make it OK to dis the anthem, right?
Why in hell is any national anthem played before athletic events?
Chigau:
Ummm…sportsball is superduperextraspecialpatrioticmerikkan?
It is pretty much the only way.
Whenever someone is telling you that you need to be patriotic, it means you’re doing it right. Keep going.
The more I hear about patriotism, the more I hate it.
This whole display comes down to “oh god, look at that -- a nigger gets 11 million a year, and isn’t on his knees all grateful for it!” The racism of slavery runs through all aspects of this country, as does the genocidal intent and feeling towards Natives.
Y’know, throwing a ball around while a TV camera is running is legal in lots of countries. On the other hand, it’s damn hard to find countries with capitalist share markets and tax structures that concentrate wealth more effectively than that of the US.
That’s why Chase Morgan’s managing partners all jointly sing the US Anthem with hands over hearts at the beginning of every work day. That’s why Exxon-Mobil execs do the same. That’s why Donald Trump sings the anthem with hand over heart every time he buys a piece of property with someone else’s money.
That’s just how patriotism works, right?
Crip Dyke@#7:
Because it’s not enough for authoritarians to compel your obedience -- they want you to appear to be obedient and to appreciate it. In other words, you don’t need to just be a slave, you need to act like you enjoy it. Hence pledges of allegiance.
Nobody should ever pledge allegiance, because they are pledging allegiance to something they did not create and cannot destroy; they are giving away moral autonomy. That is exactly the purpose of such an act of submission.
@Marcus Ranum, #8
In the ethics book I’m writing, I’m quoting you.
You too, Caine. But you I’m quoting too many times to list them all.
I think a post-racist society would be a very nice thing (he says, paraphrasing Gandhi).
Sportsball teams should each have their own anthem.
That would make sense.
So should corporations.
golly
Rollerball was set in 2018.
Cubist:
Yes, I do too. Unfortunately, we seem to be light years away from that desirable state.
Chigau:
My, my. I went to the theatre to see that flick back in whatever it was.
chigau@#2:
Maybe Kaepernick could call himself a Sovereign Citizen.
That would make it OK to dis the anthem, right?>
In principle the “soveriegn citizen” idea is actually a good bit of anarchic/freethinker philosophy. It’s being used wrong, though.
The premise is that they are asserting that the authority of the state does not devolve on them, since they reject it -- i.e.: they are autonomous individuals and do not have to obey the state. They sort of stop short of the part where they are declaring that the state’s dictates do not apply to them and they do not feel compelled to obey its laws. That’s straight anarchism 101; they shouldn’t be taking anything given by the state, either. (Some might say “freely given, freely taken” before accepting a gift but the state rather clearly isnt giving a fuck let alone anything else)
chigau@#13: ask not.
http://www.ranum.com/editorials/corporate-songs/
No I am sorry chigau no please don’t click on that please no please no no dont please no
I went to the theatre to see that flick back in whatever it was.
Me too!!! I think I was probably wearing platform soles and a prince albert coat.
too late
I didn’t read it, though.
I didn’t read it, though
If they listened to the music, they must be neutralized. so they don’t spread it. We need to take off and nuke the site from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.
I recently saw a number of, ostensibly, liberals talking about how race isn’t a problem, but rather class is the problem in the US.
Except a rich white person to other rich white people is “a rich white person”. But to many of those rich white people a rich black person is “a nigger”.
tkreacher @ 23:
Oh yes. That’s more than obvious specifically in this case, too. People qualify the money Kaepernick’s making not as something he earns in any way; it’s a glorious gift from white people, and he should be damn grateful for it, instead of blatantly pointing out his own blackness as well as that of others.
Caine #24
Indeed. Also inherent is the erasure of all other black people by the focus on the specific rich guy making a fuss. “You have millions of dollars and you’ve been raised by white adoptive parents! LOL, WHY U COMPLAINING ABOUT SO-CALLED RACISM?? LOL”. Which simply ignores the disadvantaged people he is protesting for. They don’t even factor into the equation for the racist. They don’t exist.
This brown guy makes millions and we have a mixed President. Racism is dead (you stupid niggers).
Also, as has been intimated, there’s the expectation of the House Negro concept Malcolm X spoke about. This is a house negro, they think. He’s in the house with the masters, they’ve given him money and privilege, he’s eating their food and sleeping in soft beds -- he’s supposed to be one of the good ones. Complaining is an affront to their kindness.
That’s to be expected from the field negro’s. This one is just being uppity.
tkreacher:
:snort: Yep, that sums it up.
Hell yeah. I get this when I’m trying to explain something going on with my people (Oglala Lakota) or some other nation, then it’s “damn Indians ought to be grateful -- maybe if you all stopped drinking, you could get a job” and the like. Yeah, okay, thanks so much for not killing every last one of us. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity.
Caine:
Yeah, stop whining, you (all of you, individually, apparently) got casinos. And what, you want to be treated like a person now, too?
Sheesh, greedy much?
Two years ago, Deadspin did a piece on black quarterbacks in the NFL and specifically about white attitudes towards Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson.
left0ver1under #28
*puts his alt-right hat back on*
LOL. That was TWO years ago… keep rehashing the past, you race-baiting lefty! (Ignoring the current racist outlash is a feature, not a bug.)
Caine, are you familiar with Stonekettle Station? aka Jim Wright?
He has an absolutely fantastic essay on this kerfuffle.
http://americannewsx.com/hot-off-the-press/vets-respect-compelled-bought-inherited/
CC @ 30, no I wasn’t, but thank you very much, that was a good read!