I really dislike when people sell college and high school kids short. Really?! You think they don’t understand? Sheesh, I’m glad you weren’t around spreading that negativity when I was that age. Many of these kids are quite bright as evidenced by why CC exists at all. They are plugged into media a lot more than previous generations.
If Kaepernick’s stance encourages even just a handful of young people to get involved in the political process and encourage and promote change, it’s all good in my opinion.
Good for anyone who feels compelled to follow suit. I’d much rather these young people champion this cause than sit around playing xbox, pokemon go, or reading the latest vampire fiction schlock.
"Any how many of those college and high school kids have a clue of why they are kneeling? I am willing to bet large numbers have no idea. Or give reasons that make Miss America contestants look like Rhode Scholars. "
So, what did this mean/imply? Feel free to make it clear to me.
There are so many videos, of unarmed POC being killed by police, that no one even blinks, as evidenced by the lack of a thread about Crutcher. If they have eyes, they most certainly know why they are kneeling.
The idea that kids are kneeling because doing so is ‘cool’ or they are following the herd is more than a bit insulting. Are there some kids who are doing it because they think it is cool to do do, be part of ‘the group’ and so forth, because it has gotten media attention (kind of like kids wearing ripped jeans, smoking, etc being ‘follow the herd’), sure. On the other hand, there also are a lot of thoughtful kids who do understand the issues and are doing so because they think it is something they can do. One of the things I will say is that knowing high school, especially the culture around football games and marching band, is that it is unlikely someone would do this because it is ‘cool’, high school is still very much conformity central and high school football and marching band is up there in that, those kids face serious crap , I can guarantee you that.
@ohomom2:
What, protest in the street? That will block traffic, make women and horses nervous, and cause an outbreak of the heartbreak of psoriasis among those seeing the protestors…
@doschicos:
What, you mean the sainted founding fathers who were all good, god fearing people who were perfection in anything they did, how dare you lol. Smugglers, professional rabble rousers, atheists, some outright criminals, ended up sparking what others saw as this glorious process brought from on high. I don’t remember if it was A and E or History, but they had a version of the people in Mass (Sam Adams, John Adams) who fomented the revolution that despite being terrible history, was a hoot, they main characters all looked like hipsters living in Williamsburg deciding to have a revolt:). I always find it kind of ironic, even when a kid, when people back in the late 60’s and early 70’s were calling those protesting the Vietnam war as un-American, rabble rousers, out to destroy society, and the infamous “America, love it or leave it”, when both Adams, Hancock, and many of the other founders who supported independence were called traitors, anarchists, trouble makers, dirty (Sam Adams grooming was none too good),radicals, you name it,by not a small swath of society.
@doschicos Seems to me that you are reading “large numbers” as meaning the same as “all” or “vast majority.” Not sure how your statement about many kids being quite bright makes any sense otherwise. But they do not have the same meaning. Thus my response to your statement.
@musicprnt We both agree that there are people who don’t know why they are kneeling, think its cool, wanna be part of a group, etc. Distinction in just in how many. I do not know the answer that question and I suspect you do not either. Though it sounds like I think its more than you do. Not sure why that makes my statement more than a bit insulting but not yours.
In terms of conforming, that will vary greatly by school. Some schools cultivate less conformity than others. Thus I don’t agree with your blanket statement. In addition, at many schools the athletes (particularly football players) and cheer leaders are the cool kids. They tend to set what is cool in the school rather than needing to conform to the standard. Band kids less so in terms of being cool but at many schools, musicians tend to be non-conformists. Again, depends on the school though.
Overall, you have different camps. Some people support the kneelers. Some people disagree with them. Some of those people nonetheless support the right to kneel/sit. The minority of people (from what I have seen) believe the protests should be stopped (and at least at this point, no one is stopping them).
Though in reality, the NFL commissioner and/or team owners could stop the kneeling if they decided to do so. And there would be no free speech grounds on which to object.
Protests in the streets have been happening in various parts of the country as well. Where they have turned to riots/looting they have been stopped. Closing down major highways is problematic as well in terms of safety. But the idea that protesting in the streets isn’t ok isn’t true.
In terms of the founding fathers (and I don’t want to take the thread too far afield so as to get shut down) the Declaration of Independence was just a marketing piece.
There are plenty of unarmed white people being killed by police as well, and they don’t get threads either. Have you ever asked yourself why you don’t see those videos in the news?
@hebegebe Because it might be ‘insensitive’ for white victims to have threads. Dare they ask, ‘What about us? Don’t all lives matter?’
The outgoing president of NACAC, Phillip Trout, drew criticism for saying “all lives matter” during the conference’s opening general session. Trout later apologized. ‘I regret that my insensitive statement caused hurt and offense and that the impact of my message of inclusion and respect actually had the opposite effect. I am sorry to have hurt the feelings of so many people, and I offer you my sincerest apology.’
Time will tell if the numbers and solidarity reflect the truth of the cause, but the view of Kaepernick as a ‘schmuck’ is definitely swimming against the school, marvin.
@hebegebe@PetulaClark This thread is about Kaepernick, and he is protesting POC being mistreated in this country. The "all lives matter"crowd never seems to protest about the over militarization of police, but feel free to start a thread. I see a lot of videos on the news of armed white men peacefully being taken into custody. When Zachary Hammond was killed by police, a white unarmed victim, not a peep from Whites.
There are plenty of people of all shades who are unarmed, and killed, but we are the majority compared to our percentage of the population.
I completely agree that Kaepernick is a schmuck…and an attention monger. When he had his fleeting brush with success and the cameras were on him constantly he certainly didn’t have any semblance of a social conscience. Now that he’s relegated to spending all his time sitting/kneeling on the sideline, he’s figured out a way to draw the attention back to him and extend his 15 minutes of fame. A showman…definitely. Socially sensitive…not buying it for one second. Many will choose to ignore the message because of the offensive nature of the vehicle of delivery. Time will tell.
How pathetic can it get when saying “all lives matter” can somehow be twisted into being an “insensitive statement”. :-q
@partyof5 No, the thread was begun about a South Jersey high school football team, though Kaepernick pops in and out of the thread, a lot more than he pops into NFL games this year.
’ I see a lot of videos on the news of armed white men peacefully being taken into custody.’ I don’t see those, as it 's not much news. The kind of arrests one can see on shows about cops, where the arrested are never wearing shirts and always drunk and usually well-tattooed. I do see on the local news a lot of black men being shot by other black men, though I don’t remember any football players protesting that slaughter. Rather than protest police shootings (many are outright murder, I do not deny that), wouldn’t more lives be saved by huge public protests against the availability of guns everywhere? Break the stranglehold the NRA has over Congress? (I’m not a conservative, I guess).
‘When Zachary Hammond was killed by police, a white unarmed victim, not a peep from Whites.’ I’m not sure what you mean by that.
Relative to the population, blacks are certainly killed more often than non-black victims.
But I think that misses the critical question: Relative to the rate of crimes committed by blacks, are blacks more likely or less likely to be victims of lethal police action? Have you actually looked at this data?
This matters because we can expect that the amount of interaction police have with people is relative the level of crime committed, not the overall percentage of the population. And the more interaction there is, the more often that mistakes can be made.
@hebegebe You are conflating two different things. We have no problem with criminals and their encounters with the police, although, I would venture to say, even in those cases White criminals fare better.(Dylan Roof). Our problem is with law enforcement interaction with POC in all circumstances, but specifically when we are doing nothing. This past year, I have watched police shoot citizens who had hands up and were compliant. Please dont with the false equivalency. It doesnt happen to white citizens. There is an implicit bias with some officers, that they always “fear for their lives” when encountering a person of color. Heck the one guy was on the ground, on his back, with his hands up, and the officer still shot him. It was determined the officer did nothing wrong. For some officers its protect and serve, but when it comes to us its law and order.
Regarding your last comment, the problem is the “mistakes” seem to occur frequently with us. At this point, I dont want my husband nor son flagging down an officer if having car trouble.
Let me add that it hasnt been 24 hours, and a woman called police to help with her brother in California, now this morning he is dead.