Why Is This Still a Thing?

Reading my on this day posts from 2 years ago and it's all about the outrage over Kaepernick kneeling.

Next year I will have those posts PLUS outrage over Nike using him in their latest ad campaigns.

AND I still have friends who don't know why he is kneeling.

Who want to argue with me about why he is kneeling.

Even though he (and those that protested with him) are on record REPEATEDLY saying why they are kneeling.

Because those people are more concerned about their outrage than they are about the reason why he kneels.

Why is this still a thing?

Why aren't you listening?

I should put out a few caveats here...

I don't watch much NFL and I don't like Colin Kaepernick. Those things are even sort of tied. He was the quarterback of the 49ers when I was still a HUGE football fan. He was the quarterback when the team last went to the Super Bowl. I still didn't like him. Even then. I didn't make it a secret that I didn't like him either. I thought he was spoiled and self centered. I thought he was a sign of a badly managed team, in the fact that they kept talking about wanting quality character guys and then kept signing guys who beat women, or used drugs, or had DUIIs or kissed their own biceps, didn't give credit to their teammates and wore the hat of another fucking team in the off season.

I never got over my dislike for the management, or mismanagement, of the 49ers and stopped watching them. Then without a team to follow I stopped watching most NFL games. I'll watch a playoff game here or there, I'll loosely follow the Lions to see how they are messing up this year, I'll have the Super Bowl on in the background while I read...but I'm not a NFL fan anymore.

But Colin Kaepernick? Well, I still can't say that I like him. But now I respect him. Now I've seen him do something that wasn't selfish. That wasn't spoiled. That actually was something outside of himself trying to make the world he lives in better.

And that's what he's doing.

He kneels because he wants to call attention to injustice. He donates money to causes to help advance people less fortunate than he is. He sparked a protest and a movement even though it caused him to lose his main job. And stop with the he lost his job because he's not a good enough quarterback. That's nonsense. He lost his job because of the baggage he brought with him. And that's a valid reason why teams might shy away from hiring him. When the president of the United States turns his following against you, that's a lot of pressure. But stop trying to say that wasn't why he lost his job. It makes you look silly.

He kneels because he was told that sitting was disrespectful to members of the military and as he was not protesting the military he knelt instead. It's all out there. It's well documented so stop trying to say it's about the troops or about the flag.

AND even if it was? So fucking what? Are we not allowed to protest military actions? Are we not allowed to say that war is bad? Stop trying to deify the military. We don't need to do that. That's not why they serve. They serve for a lot of reasons but if you get down to the whole basic "protecting our freedom" part of it, protesting is a freedom we have. So they fight for your right to kneel. Stop acting like the people who sign up to fight for our country are so soft they can't handle a little criticism. Trust me they can take it, and a lot more than you can ever imagine. But...

That's not why he kneels.

And can we stop with the bullshit about protesting on the job? They aren't kneeling while they are playing. They are kneeling before they take the field for the game. Patriotic displays are not part of the game or the job. And of course they protest while on camera, it wouldn't do much good to try and call attention to an issue if you aren't getting attention right then, would it? Don't be stupid.

And stop saying that because he has money he has no right to bitch.

THIS ONE MAKES ME CRAZY!

Of course he has a ton of privilege. He was raised in a middle class household. He went to college. He got his dream job. He made a ton of money doing it. He is dripping with privilege. And this is what you are SUPPOSED to do if you have all of those advantages. Help people who don't. Speak for people who don't have a microphone. Make a difference for people who cannot expend any extra energy on anything other than surviving. When you have a lot, you give a lot. That's what makes you a good person. Ignoring people who don't have it as good as you do? That makes you an asshole.

So yeah, I respect his choices a lot more now. He put it on the line. He took a stand, by kneeling. He's trying to make a difference.

And when you try to silence him, when you say that what he is TELLING you he is protesting isn't what it is, but it's something else, then you are just showing that you are part of the problem.

Not listening, not wanting to fix an issue, or to understand why someone else feels it's an issue, not even being willing to engage in another form of thought. You don't have to agree with him, but instead of disregarding the fact that he's telling you it's about social injustice and changing the narrative to something you can pretend to get pissed about, how about you just say, I don't think there is a problem here. I don't think that the police have an issue. I don't think there is a racial component. You can do that. You don't have to agree with him. But to not listen at all? To scream over his quiet protest? That says something totally different.


And yes up there I said pretend to get pissed about. Because I still think the majority of people are pretending to be pissed. I saw A LOT of posts about Nike and sweatshop labor (none of them linking to the current articles about how Nike solved its sweatshop issues), and a LOT of posts about the problems Nike has been having with its corporate culture from people who had never given a shit about such things until last week. Seriously, you're not fooling anyone. You don't care about labor prices, you don't care about corporate culture, you don't care about the guy in the beer line still ordering his beer and not stopping and standing at attention, you don't care about the fact that you don't stand up in your living room when you hear the national anthem. You don't care that they are breaking the flag code every single time they lay the flag out horizontally, or wear a flag, or use the flag for advertising. So yeah, you don't actually care.

And don't even get me started on the people who seem to think the military now has a monopoly on the word sacrifice and that you can only sacrifice all of something if you die...stop it. Just stop it. Sacrifice comes in a lot of shapes and forms, and you can sacrifice all of one thing or another without sacrificing your life.

Stop making up things to be pissed off about.

Why is this still a thing we are doing?

Why aren't you willing to ask why there is still a feeling of racial injustice and imbalance? Instead of being mad at those trying to call attention to a problem why are you working so hard to change the subject?

You can be anti-bad cop and still pro-police.

I've said it a million times by this point.

The people that should be the most upset about bad cops are the good cops. The bad ones make it harder for them to do their jobs. They make it more difficult for them to connect with the communities they are serving. They destroy the trust that needs to be there between the police and the people they protect. I've blogged and status updated about it so many times you all probably quoted that along with me.

And if you can't even get mad about that, then at least shut up about what it isn't about. You think everyone should always stand? Then stand. But stop trying to make it about something that pisses you off instead of something you don't give a shit about. Your righteous indignation is self righteous at best.

Stop letting this still be a thing.