Disrespecting the flag is disgraceful. Some black people see America practicing racism in a way that disrespects what our flag represents.
The American flag represents aspirations, values, character America has NOT achieved yet. When blacks kneel they are saying the flag is dishonored by bad cops killing black people.
Is it being disrespectful, however, to say the VALUES our American flag stands for are being dishonored when police kill people of any color, but most publicly, and most likely, unarmed black people?
I golf at a place where a lot of men spoke angrily about the recent kneeling protest by the NFL during the national anthem. Some "fans: are vowing to protest against the NFL.
The "elephant" in the room, no pun intended (Republicans), is racism no matter what white people say. But in my opinions below I put racism in a box of discrimination against people for all reasons just to cover my bases. In other words, race, religion, creed, national origin, etc. are boxed by me to make a point. People discriminate against people, deal with it.
Deal with all discrimination for the sake of being honest and moral people.
Yes, it is possible Tweety is all about patriotism, and doing his job as President.
Yes, people are allowed to be angry against protestors, just as people are allowed to kneel under the Constitution of the United States of America.
Yes, Tweety's Press Secretary meeting with the press is allowed to pass on his bullshit to cover his stupid attempt to debase an American right by invoking his version of "patriotism." She is his servant and he writes her employment check each month so she says whatever he wants her to say.
So what is the potential good from the protest?
Is there any hope for a reasonable and measured DISCUSSION or are Americans destined to simply yell at each other, divisively?
"Colin Kaepernick vs. Tim Tebow: A tale of two Christians on their knees"
By Michael Frost By Michael Frost Acts of Faith Perspective Perspective Discussion of news topics with a point of view, including narratives by individuals regarding their own experiences
September 24, 2017
"He explains, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. 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.”"
Want to guarantee dead people in the streets, killed by our Government? Stifle peaceful protests and you will get violent protests. JFK understood this fact of life.
Red neck commentary by Tweety is abuse of power and divisive. Tweety is doing harm to the Presidency and our country. Period.
Paid leave when you KILL someone? I know, it is so the killer can reflect on his deed with remorse, right? Nope.
Think abut this protest deepr folks, like the author of this article.
"It seems to me that Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick represent the two very different forms that American Christianity has come to.
And not just in the United States. In many parts of the world it feels as though the church is separating into two versions, one that values personal piety, gentleness, respect for cultural mores, and an emphasis on moral issues like abortion and homosexuality, and another that values social justice, community development, racial reconciliation, and political activism.
One version is kneeling in private prayer. The other is kneeling in public protest.
One is concerned with private sins like abortion. The other is concerned with public sins like racial discrimination.
One preaches a gospel of personal salvation. The other preaches a gospel of political and social transformation.
One is reading the Epistles of Paul. The other is reading the Minor Prophets.
One is listening to Eric Metaxas and Franklin Graham. The other is listening to William Barber and John Perkins.
One is rallying at the March for Life. The other is getting arrested at Moral Monday protests."
We have been here before folks, in the '60s, '70s, when black people protested various racist acts in America. We are still a VERY RACIST country folks, and that is not to say black people need reparations from being abused. There are bad black people just like bad white people.
It is time to come out of the "closet" so-to-speak on racism. Americans everywhere MUST admit all of us are racist, using stereotypes to protect our physical selves, i.e., profiling people (not just black people, by the way, we all use profiling like in how people look or dress, tattoos too), and our material wealth.
The problem is when racism seeps into our legal and government systems, when the racism hides in devious ways to undermine fairness and decency in the workplace or in church or in businesses or in schools, to abuse ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND SOME RELIGIONS AND LANGUAGES
"From Louis Armstrong to the N.F.L.: Ungrateful as the New Uppity"
By Jelani Cobb, 24 Sep 2017
I choose to provide the author's conclusion first because I think it is dramatic enough to make a key point about Tweety's real motivations. He is playing his supporters and others I care about, my friends, like a fiddle. you can continue to let this huckster play you are think more clearly about his real motivations. Tweety is 100% about Tweety, and 0% about what America stands for, Think folks!
"When this moment has elapsed, when some inevitably unsatisfactory punctuation has concluded the Trump era, we will be left with an infinitude of questions. But Trump, we will assuredly understand, is a small man with a fetish for the symbols of democracy and a bottomless hostility for the actual practice of it."
The Law of Unintended Consequences may be America's best friend today!
Here is how the article starts, and some quotes.
"Sixty years ago, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, became a flashpoint in the nascent civil-rights movement when Governor Orval Faubus refused to abide by the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Faubus famously deployed the state’s National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from attending classes at the high school. In the midst of the crisis, a high-school journalist interviewing Louis Armstrong about an upcoming tour asked the musician about his thoughts on the situation, prompting Armstrong to refer to the Arkansas governor as several varieties of “motherfucker.” (In the interest of finding a printable quote, his label for Faubus was changed to “ignorant plowboy.”) Armstrong, who was scheduled to perform in the Soviet Union as a cultural ambassador on behalf of the State Department, cancelled the tour—a display of dissent that earned him the scorn and contempt of legions of whites, shocked by the trumpeter’s apparent lack of patriotism. As the historian Penny Von Eschen notes in “Satchmo Blows Up the World,” a history of the American usage of black culture as a tool of the Cold War, students at the University of Arkansas accused Armstrong of “creating an issue where there was none,” and joined the procession of groups cancelling Armstrong’s scheduled concerts.The free-range lunacy of Donald Trump’s speech on Friday night in Alabama, where he referred to Colin Kaepernick—and other N.F.L. players who silently protest police brutality—as a “son of a bitch,” and of the subsequent Twitter tantrums in which the President, like a truculent six-year-old, disinvited the Golden State Warriors from a White House visit, illustrates that the passage of six decades has not dimmed this dynamic confronted by Armstrong, or by any prominent black person tasked with the entertainment of millions of white ones. There again is the presence of outrage for events that should shock the conscience, and the reality of people who sincerely believe, or who have at least convincingly lied to themselves, that dissenters are creating an issue where there is none. Kaepernick began his silent, kneeling protest at the beginning of last season, not as an assault against the United States military or the flag but as a dissent against a system that has, with a great degree of consistency, failed to hold accountable police who kill unarmed citizens. Since he did this, forty-one unarmed individuals have been fatally shot by police in the United States, twelve of them African-American, according to a database maintained by the Washington Post. The city of St. Louis recently witnessed three days of protests after the acquittal of Jason Stockley, the former officer who, while still working for the city’s police force, fatally shot Anthony Smith, an eighteen-year-old African-American motorist who had led officers on a chase. Stockley emerged from his vehicle, having declared that he would “kill the motherfucker,” then proceeded to fire five rounds into the car. Later, a firearm was found on the seat of Smith’s car, but the weapon bore only Stockley’s DNA. The issue is not imaginary."
The Tweety effort to stigmatize reasonable protests has backfired in my opinion, but I know there are those who will say the President was dong his job, DEMANDING LOYALTY . . . . as Tweety always does.
"A week and a half ago, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, assailed the black ESPN journalist Jemele Hill for referring to Trump on Twitter as an “ignorant white supremacist.” She asserted that Hill’s tweets were a “fireable offense.” Several days later, Trump attacked the sports network on Twitter and demanded that it “apologize for untruth.” After Trump rescinded his White House invitation to the Golden State Warriors, Hill tweeted, “Hey @stephencurry30, welcome to the club, bro.” LeBron James tweeted that Trump was a “bum”—which inspired criticism that he had crossed a line. (James was, it should be noted, considerably kinder than Louis Armstrong might have been.) The club of Trump dissidents grew larger on Sunday, when dozens of players from the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars took a knee, and Shad Khan, the owner of the Jaguars, locked arms with players and coaches who remained standing during the national anthem. All but one of the Pittsburgh Steelers opted to remain in their locker room during the playing of the national anthem ahead of their game against the Chicago Bears. Both the Seattle Seahawks and the Tennessee Titans decided to do the same for their game. If Trump’s intention was to stigmatize such displays, his words have had the opposite effect. He is perhaps the greatest example of the law of unintended consequences this side of the Darwin Awards."
Let's hope this phase of American history ends with a renewed effort to control our racist instincts.
