NFLers Right To Protest (In The Locker Room). Rosa Parks Weeps
And yesterday this news was also released:
Video shows arrest, tasing of Sterling Brown
For most of the players in the NFL, this kind of thing is a real danger. There's so much talk about cops shooting unarmed black men, which is obviously a terrible thing, but the sort of event shown in the video is a lot more common. It's a bunch of cops confronting a black man and purposely escalating it as a pretense for roughing him up and tasing him. If Brown wasn't an NBA player, he'd be fortunate not to be facing criminal charges.
So for a lot of the NFL players, this is a very serious issue that they're trying to call attention to. To deflect from the real issue by dishonestly saying it's about patriotism is insulting to the players.
And as a few of us have already mentioned, the NFL has no problem with compelling the players to participate as props in worshipful displays of military might, and sometimes even in observations for police officers. To actively promote one set of political or social stands and force the players to participate, but then forbid them from participating in their own political or social stands is just wrong. Let's just take all of it out of our games then. No anthems, no military, no cops, no social justice protests. Or if we want the patriotic displays, we should be willing to tolerate dissent (which is supposed to be one of our patriotic values anyway).
People have spotted Kapernick at Open Houses in Maplewood and South Orange over the last couple of weekends...
Seriously, look at this picture and say these guys aren't being perfectly respectful.
Disrespectful is the fans chatting, eating, drinking, buying stuff....
Hooray for the Jets owner! Have to wait and see what Green Bay does.
mjc said:
Seriously, look at this picture and say these guys aren't being perfectly respectful.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/opinion/conservatives-fail-the-nfls-free-speech-test.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region
Disrespectful is the fans chatting, eating, drinking, buying stuff....
Hooray for the Jets owner! Have to wait and see what Green Bay does.
There's yer perfect image. TV should pan the crowd during the P of A.
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Those words were probably first uttered shortly after the first nation was established. No wonder politicians are so fond of appearing patriotic.
GL2 said:
Remarkable contrast with NBA. Clearly (and obviously), this ain't over.
Love Steve kerr and Greg Popovich. They have been very outspoken about the protests.
"I think it's just typical of the NFL. ... It's idiotic, but that's how the NFL has handled their business," Kerr said.
The NBA does have a policy that requires players to stand for the national anthem, but the coach agreed with a question that noted NBA players have more of an outlet to speak about social issues.
"Players, coaches, management, league management, we feel like we're all partners," he added.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2777740-steve-kerr-on-nfl-anthem-policy-idiotic-and-typical-of-the-nfl
The NFL's Players Union was excluded on this decision. (Sounds like the plantation mentality.) The union should challenge. Actually, I hope in protest, the players remain in the locker room during the anthem. They DO have that right. Use it!
President white pride managed to get his NFL buddies to take away the first amendment rights of black players, and now he's threatening deportation for any player that doesn't comply. Will he deport them to his new plantation near Gitmo or to Gitmo itself?
Savages!
It seems that a big chunk of the NFL supporters (where the money comes from to pay the players) prefer players stand for the anthem. If the players want to protest they should offer back to the owners whatever amount of their salaries the owners lose in revenue from fan reaction to the protests. That would be a show of true show of heartfelt protest. It would be fun to see what the owners would do if the players made that offer. This whole thing is about money. Most of the players are probably free to protest other than during the performance, which the owners pay them for.
In so grateful that you're here to tell African Americans where and how they should protest, and how much it should cost them. It's a real public service.
notupset said:
It seems that a big chunk of the NFL supporters (where the money comes from to pay the players) prefer players stand for the anthem. If the players want to protest they should offer back to the owners whatever amount of their salaries the owners lose in revenue from fan reaction to the protests. That would be a show of true show of heartfelt protest. It would be fun to see what the owners would do if the players made that offer. This whole thing is about money. Most of the players are probably free to protest other than during the performance, which the owners pay them for.
Wow. This makes perfect sense. Is it an excerpt from a book you're working on?
Do you actually know anything about the protest or NFL revenue or are you just stringing together random thoughts as they occur to you?
notupset said:
It seems that a big chunk of the NFL supporters (where the money comes from to pay the players) prefer players stand for the anthem. If the players want to protest they should offer back to the owners whatever amount of their salaries the owners lose in revenue from fan reaction to the protests. That would be a show of true show of heartfelt protest. It would be fun to see what the owners would do if the players made that offer. This whole thing is about money. Most of the players are probably free to protest other than during the performance, which the owners pay them for.
Since Trump is the one that has stirred things up to the point that there might be a revenue effect, don't you think the owners should be complaining to him?
A lot of people here have a problem with the Players Association not being consulted during a meeting of the league owners.
Does anybody know whether the Players Association's contract with the league requires its participation in league owners' meetings.
TomR
GL2 said:
"N.F.L. players will be allowed to stay in the locker room during the national anthem, but their teams will be fined by the league if they go onto the field and kneel, according to new rules adopted by owners on Wednesday in an effort to defuse an issue that escalated last season into a national debate catalyzed by President Trump.
Players had previously been required to be on the field for the anthem. Commissioner Roger Goodell said that owners voted unanimously to rescind that rule and to fine teams if their players are on the field or sidelines but do not “show respect for the flag and the anthem.”
“It was unfortunate that on-field protests created a false perception among many that thousands of N.F.L. players were unpatriotic,” Goodell said in a statement. “This is not and was never the case.”
The new policy was adopted at the league’s spring meeting in Atlanta without involvement from the players’ union. It is unclear how individual players will respond to the new rules."
nyt
I've been thinking about this for a few days; and I'm still not getting the analogy with Ms. Parks.
Please elaborate.
TomR
They don't actually need to have respect for the flag and the anthem, they just have to show it.
It's right there in the Constitution: the freedom to conform and obey shall not be infringed.
Aren’t we allowed to disrespect the flag if we want? I took my flag down after the last election, I was tempted to rip it to shreds.
mem said:
Aren’t we allowed to disrespect the flag if we want? I took my flag down after the last election, I was tempted to rip it to shreds.
Just proves that you are a true patriot.
Freedom of speech means the GOVERNMENT can't restrict speech, private employers are free to.
I spent my life helping others, since I became disabled and the one in need of help all I have gotten is ABUSE from my government and their representatives, including 3 criminal acts that no one will investigate. To me the flag stands for the right of the haves to abuse the have nots.
jmitw said:
Freedom of speech means the GOVERNMENT can't restrict speech, private employers are free to.
...
That's really just a technicality you know. The entire culture of America is based on freedom of speech. When it's curtailed, by anyone, it's sort of seen as a societal failure. (By some of us anyway.)
A national institution like the NFL has a moral obligation to allow these quiet protests - especially when any harm that the NFL has suffered has nothing to do with the protestors, and everything to do with a demagogic President deliberately using the protestors as fodder for his racist culture war.
Instead, the NFL owners have seen fit to become combatants in this war. Shameful, really.
mem said:
Aren’t we allowed to disrespect the flag if we want? I took my flag down after the last election, I was tempted to rip it to shreds.
The day after the election, my flag holder broke and I found the flag just dangling. It hasn’t been out since. It was like an omen.....
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I think the league will pursue this whenever it rears its head, and even when it doesn’t. It was a dying issue from where I sit, and yet they still felt the need to revive it and put their stamp of power on it.
And while NFL players aren’t known for giving up, neither are the owners. They’ve got a captive feed of players just dying to get into the league with a tasty contract, and always will. Christ, even the draft is now a massive drawn out spectacle and dominates news.