http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...el-pray-for-unity-and-justice-before-national
Kneeling and prayers before the anthem.... fans still booed.
Like I was saying, for way too many this has zero to do with WHEN they protest, but THAT they protest.
Going too far?
- Thread starter Halldan1
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http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...el-pray-for-unity-and-justice-before-national
Kneeling and prayers before the anthem.... fans still booed.
Like I was saying, for way too many this has zero to do with WHEN they protest, but THAT they protest.
I'm not much of a football fan. There has to be nothing on for me to watch it. I can't say I saw what happened because I had things to do before the yankee game started. Sounds to me you're not happy they exercised their first amendment right to boo. lol I would say it's stupid to boo since they did it before the anthem, but it's still their right. Maybe, just maybe some fans are irritated with the protest because they didn't pay to see them protest. Can you imagine going into a play or a movie and the actors were protesting abortion or something else until the start of the play or movie? Great cause I support completely but nobody paid to hear or see it. If you feel compelled to protest, go for it, just not while I'm paying you. And I consider you on my time from the moment I walk in the door.
I think you make a great point. Whether a ball game or a Broadway play, I really don't want to hear or watch them protesting the celeb cause dejour, whether I support the positon or not. Have actually had that happen at a play and it's a real turn-off.
Booing is an expression of free speech. And for many, the baseline has already been set as to what the players are protesting - rightly or wrongly. Trying different times or types of protest may not change what people perceive the players as protesting.
Additionally, this is not in a public space. People paid hundreds of dollars to be in the stadium and it wasn’t to see a political demonstration.
That's fine... but people should stop pretending the objection was to the treatment of the flag.
The objection is that they don't want to see black people complaining about a perceived injustice.
@SHUHoopsFan was saying use a different minute out of the 10,000 they have available. They did and it was still a problem.
The announcer asked for a moment of prayer for unity, peace and justice. What is the difference to that moment of prayer and a moment of prayer after a national travesty? I bet they have a moment of silence for those hat lost their lives last night in Vegas. Even though it is before an event where people paid hundreds to attend. Are people going to boo about that? Of course not.
Neither was the abortion comparison noted above... Point still stands.
People don't care about an athletes opinion on anything, unless it is something they disagree with.
Here's the problem. If you want people to listen to your protest, slapping them in the face is not the best way to do it because they will focus on the slap in the face. Doing the protest it at that time many felt was disrespectful. So the result of a poorly calculated first impression of this movement, which has a great cause, was a bad first impression. I think if these players got some professional activists to calculate what they should do, as opposed to doing it on their own, they would have calculated a bad response to kneeling during the anthem and would have worked around it. If they knelt before the anthem from the get go and stood up, I don't think you would see the boos at all. That didn't happen so the boos are happening.
I don't view the sitting/kneeling as disrespect to the flag/anthem; I view it as players exercising their constitutional right to protest.
People defending the sanctity of the flag/anthem is admirable but appreciating our right to use those symbols in protest gives us a deeper understanding of how great it is to live in the United States
People defending the sanctity of the flag/anthem is admirable but appreciating our right to use those symbols in protest gives us a deeper understanding of how great it is to live in the United States
There were many marches the week after Trump's inauguration. Many celebrities showed up and were leaders. None of them used their professional environment to protest. Why can't all the players of all 32 teams lead a march in their own city on a given Tueday or Wednesday? That would be a national headline. That would call attention to the social injustice. (Just avoid bringing in celebrities who have contributed to social injustice using their 1st amendment right by writing songs calling women b***** for decades) The players and celebrities would have the time to speak to the people. While at the game, all parties need to remeber the consumer has a right to boo. Unfortunately they pissed the consumer off by initially doing the kneel during the anthem. I think it's unfortunate because they could have gotten the point across without causing any fans to burn their NFL items. Nobody is burning any gear because they disapprove of the cause. The players simply didn't care how their actions would effect others. Overall I think this will hurt ratings but it won't show up in the numbers because they compare the numbers to the previous year. This year there is nothing like the election captivating the country.
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I remember seeing this live back in 1968 during the Olympics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute
My recollection was that it died down pretty quickly. No social media back then. Reading about it now, I see their intent was human rights, not Black Power.
I see the similarity to the recent kneeling in that the method used has confused and overshadowed the message.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute
My recollection was that it died down pretty quickly. No social media back then. Reading about it now, I see their intent was human rights, not Black Power.
I see the similarity to the recent kneeling in that the method used has confused and overshadowed the message.
Why can't this be both? Sitting for the national anthem is disrespectful to the flag. But it is an expression of protest as well. I do not believe in burning the flag in protest. I think it is a disgusting form of protest. But, I have to defend the right of that person to do so. I don't think it is right. I can express my opinion and say it's not right and I disagree with it. However, I have to fight for that person to be free to do so. It is the sometimes inherent contradiction of a free democratic society.
This is why this issue is complete nonsense that has been stirred up by Trump who knows little about the laws and freedoms of this country and continually practices the politics of division and derision.
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