Sports and the White House

[kevm14]

Oh, this is actually the top answer:

Very poorly. And not just because it’s disrespectful and rude (which it is). Mostly because it just seems like yet another whack-a-mole event in the ongoing social justice warrior perpetual motion machine. Last week it was UC Berkeley rioters being held at bay by $600,000 worth of police protection to protect some guy trying to make a speech. The week before that, confederate statues. The week before that it was trans-something or other — who can even keep track or remember? This week it’s NFL protests. Next week … ?

Conservatives are generally just tired of all this. Why can’t football players just play football?

I think that is the general sense one gets on conservative web sites. Fatigue, sprinkled with disgust at the Politicization Of Everything.

And I also completely agree with this, too.

[kevm14]

This is also kind of a Ben Shapiro type argument.

It’s stupid.

Apparently these idiots think that they’re protesting against “systemic racism” or something.

To me, it seems like your usual moronic SJW attention seeking tactic that people will forget in 5 seconds.

All you need to know about why NFL players are taking a knee and where it came from

This is a quote from one of the lead protesters:

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

It’s painfully self righteous. It’s like one of those “feed the starving” hashtags on twitter with a picture of a malnourished African child. They think that they’re doing something noble, but they’re not.

If they really wanted to fight racism, they would’ve actually fought against racism. Not pulled stupid attention seeking stunts like this.

If you have a political opinion, fine. Just do something productive with it instead of disrespecting a flag and an anthem.

[kevm14]

Another Ben Shapiro-style argument.

The last I checked, the statistics of Americans that feel this is disrespectful- is at around 70%.

While people know the reason for the kneeling, they feel it is inappropriate and disrespectful to the country. Protests such as flag burning, have been occurring for decades, and I can't really think of one instance when they actually invoked change. (The Vietnam conflict was unpopular-that war ended because the majority of Americans did not support it, it did not end due to flag burning)

Kneeling is not seen as heroic, and conservative American people do not like to see the country disrespected. It seems insulting to everyone that has served in the military, or held a folded flag at a funeral. Kneeling is not helping fix the racial problems. Mostly because it is not the right venue to protest. It is unrelated to the problems they want to highlight.

Change has to happen at the problems’ source. Police Brutality should be approached in neighborhoods, with better captains, neighborhoods willing to sit down with police and police doing things in the community, besides issuing tickets and arresting people. (For instance, a once a month community service project, cookout. etc. Better government leaders at the city and state level, better laws to protect. More accountability to actually get to know the residents of these communities.

Kneeling at a football game, doesn't do anything except increase ratings at news outlets. And alienate 3/4 of America.

Makes you wonder if the real reason isn't just to piss off conservatives. The rules of politicization say that pissing off your enemy must be doing something good. That's a sad state.

[kevm14]

Yet another Ben Shapiro type argument. They keep coming! Rational people, yay!

I take it as yet another example of why voting should require a license.

Anyone still complaining of “systemic racism” (with emphasis on systemic, of course racism itself is still a thing) against black Americans in 2017 is either ill-informed, willfully ignorant, or has a political agenda. Given that these are football players who get paid millions to smash their heads together and throw balls around, I’m fairly sure it’s not some deep political agenda they’re trying to pursue; they’re just being trendy.

If there’s system racism against any group in the US, it’s against Asians who have to score 50 to 200 points higher on the SATs just to get in the same schools, all else being equal.

The bottom line is that modern political issues are incredibly complex. No meaningful debate can be had without examining decades of statistical data on macroeconomics, crime, pollution, etc.

If someone is claiming that there’s “systemic racism”, the burden of proof is on them. Simply saying “ the prisons are filled with blacks” is not proof of systemic racism; that’s just not how logic works. If the American justice system really were biased against non-white minorities, then where are the legions of East Asians in prison? They make up 5% of the population, but good luck finding a Chinese guy behind bars.

Now ask yourself this. Of all the people you know well in life, how many do you believe actually understand the topics, know the data, or even understand how to interpret any kind of statistical data? And yet everyone you know over the age 18 can vote for the Presidency, the highest office in the land. Does that really seem like a good idea for you?

[kevm14]

The national anthem, saluting the flag, etc, are traditional rituals that unite us as a country, regardless of politics. Some things are bigger than us, and love of country is one of those things. That is why abusing those traditions is such an insult to us. It says, “My grievances are more important than our country”, “I am more devoted to my grievances than to getting along with the likes of you”, and “My grievances are more important than YOURS, because I am more important than YOU.”

[kevm14]

Link: https://www.quora.com/How-is-TakeAKnee- ... -in-the-US

[Adam]

That's pretty much how I feel.

You feel like you are ridiculed when you stand for the pledge of allegiance after morning announcements?

[kevm14]

No, this:

The Left in 2017: “We demand you choose not to stand up for the American flag and anthem. Unless you are a racist bigot”

Seems like the SJWs are ruining the left and the alt-right (the real alt-right, the actual racist/white supremacists) are ruining the right. So we have that going for us.

[bill25]

Makes you wonder if the real reason isn't just to piss off conservatives.

I don't think this is what is going on. I think that there are some people that feel there are legitimate race relation issues in the country, and want to push for equality.
I think that is a good thing.

I also don't think it is necessarily a money thing, but an attitude and perception thing.

I think that the avenue they picked may not have been the best, and it is ruining their intended message, and is actually causing more dividing than uniting which is really unfortunate.

[kevm14]

1. Some people are racist.
2. Many problems and "unequal outcomes" have nothing to do with race but a large variety of other factors. Thomas Sowell explains this pretty well.
3. Saying everything is a race problem just detracts from real racism, which makes fighting racism that much harder. It also distracts from fixing the real causes of the problems.
4. Taking a knee accomplishes nothing on any of this. Seriously, I'd love to know what the expectation is.