What is the controversy surrounding #takeaknee

[Bob Kelso]

I think the most infuriating response I've been present for was this woman that was on this cringey emotional tirade about it, she said something along the line of;

"Why would they even do something like that in protest, did it accomplish anything? Be the change you want."

The sheer ignorance and irony left me breathless.

[Crossless2.0]

I think the most infuriating response I've been present for was this woman that was on this cringey emotional tirade about it, she said something along the line of;

"Why would they even do something like that in protest, did it accomplish anything? Be the change you want."

The sheer ignorance and irony left me breathless.

Be the change you want? That's some great advice.

Black guys, don't get shot by cops for no good reason when you've been pulled over for a broken tail light. Be that change! But whatever you do, don't protest that it happens to others 'cause it won't change things overnight.

Brilliant.

[JackRussell]

People who aren't the same colour as me are scary, and might think differently.

If people can't understand why black Americans are frustrated by their treatment, that white privelege is endemic in certain parts of the world, including my country. They have never bothered to observe it, or don't care about it, coz, white privelege.

[Foxaèr]

People who aren't the same colour as me are scary, and might think differently.

If people can't understand why black Americans are frustrated by their treatment, that white privelege is endemic in certain parts of the world, including my country. They have never bothered to observe it, or don't care about it, coz, white privelege.

And when a black person attempts to make a statement about the current affairs of the country, those white people relish in pulling out their patriotic white persecution cards.

[henryp]

It's amazing how some people read what they want to read.  I guess that's what happens when everybody is reading off scripts that were handed to them by the people that do their thinking.

Yes, because what you've been posting thus far is original and in no way parrots what other racist conservatives have been spreading all over the internet.

I'm farther to the left on this issue than you.  I support what Kaepernick actually said, not the white-washed PR version people are passing around.

[JackRussell]

People who aren't the same colour as me are scary, and might think differently.

If people can't understand why black Americans are frustrated by their treatment, that white privelege is endemic in certain parts of the world, including my country. They have never bothered to observe it, or don't care about it, coz, white privelege.

And when a black person attempts to make a statement about the current affairs of the country, those white people relish in pulling out their patriotic white persecution cards.

I guess they are just angry, like us atheists are always so angry.

Wonder why? Bullshit treatment of a rational evaluation of current reality frustrates me. And I am white and blonde and male and not persecuted day by day...

[TheBeardedDude]

I think the most infuriating response I've been present for was this woman that was on this cringey emotional tirade about it, she said something along the line of;

"Why would they even do something like that in protest, did it accomplish anything? Be the change you want."

The sheer ignorance and irony left me breathless.

What has two thumbs and doesn't give a crap about that woman's opinion?

[Bob Kelso]

What has two thumbs and doesn't give a crap about that woman's opinion?

You're goddamn right.

[brewer]

---

 To say it's the flag or the anthem is deflecting the original purpose/motivation. 

He literally called out the flag and the country.  And he was 100% right to.  Why are people trying to change what he said?  The flag represents America.  America is shit to black people.  So fuck America, and by the transitive property fuck the flag.  Do you not agree with that sentiment?  


“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.”

Thanks for not providing a link for quoted material.

I do not agree with your comments. I think your agenda and bias has affected your ability to think critically. His initial reported response (8/26, day of the game) after first being noticed was: "Kaepernick told the media after the game he sat because of the oppression of people of color and ongoing issues with police brutality. (https://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869...rshall-nfl)". Nothing about flag or anthem. His initial motive was limited to oppression/police brutality. It was only later that he came forward with the flag/country comments. And I don't think I see any "America is shit to black people" or "Fuck America", that's your own agenda and bias. Your welcome to your opinion of america but don't put words/sentiment into others mouths.

---

Here is the whole poem.

---

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,  
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?  
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,  
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming;  
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;  
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave  
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?  
 
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,  
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,  
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?  
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,  
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;  
‘Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!  
 
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore  
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion  
A home and a country should leave us no more?  
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,  
From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave;  
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave  
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!  
 
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!  
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land,  
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.  
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just.  
And this be our motto— “In God is our trust; "
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave  
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

---

Just because we picked out the best parts and ignored the bad part is no different than cherry picking the bible in my eyes.

This link explains in more depth the meaning to the lyrics.
https://www.theroot.com/star-spangled-bi...1790855893

And how many people know the whole poem (I sure didn't)? Which parts are racist that are sung at ball games? That's all most people know. When they defend the limited part they know and then are told it is racist (intimating because they defend it they are racist) feels a little bit like hitting below the belt.

[henryp]

---

He literally called out the flag and the country.  And he was 100% right to.  Why are people trying to change what he said?  The flag represents America.  America is shit to black people.  So fuck America, and by the transitive property fuck the flag.  Do you not agree with that sentiment?  


“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.”

Thanks for not providing a link for quoted material.

I do not agree with your comments. I think your agenda and bias has affected your ability to think critically. His initial reported response (8/26, day of the game) after first being noticed was: "Kaepernick told the media after the game he sat because of the oppression of people of color and ongoing issues with police brutality. (https://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869...rshall-nfl)". Nothing about flag or anthem. His initial motive was limited to oppression/police brutality. It was only later that he came forward with the flag/country comments. And I don't think I see any "America is shit to black people" or "Fuck America", that's your own agenda and bias. Your welcome to your opinion of america but don't put words/sentiment into others mouths.

Are you concerned I'm fabricating random Colin Kaepernick quotes? 

You don't see any "america is shit to black people."?  So when he says America oppresses black people, and there are bodies on the street and people getting away with murder, you think paraphrasing that as "America is shit to black people" is a stretch.  Oppression and unpunished murder don't rise to your standard of 'shit'?

The fuck america was mine.  But that's because I think if he said "Fuck America" he'd still be justified, let alone his much more reserved "I'm not going to stand up and show pride in a flag or america" that people are trying to walk back and play apologists over.

Why shouldn't it be about the flag or america? The flag represents this country. America is the country in which these things are happening. I can't follow why people are resisting this idea.