I guess I thought they were fighting for our freedom, like someone's freedom to choose how to show how they might be dissatisfied with how they see people being treated in their country.
Iowa State on the Field for the National Anthem?
- Thread starter WIB
- Start date
Peacefully protesting is a foundation of this country, how is exercisng that right disrespectful?
People's issue with this particular peaceful protest go a lot deeper than perceived, incorrectly, disrespect to the country. Just read through this thread, or any other actual discussion off this board.
Allen Lazard's grandfather (now deceased) attended a military academy (I believe Annapolis). His grandpa mentored many people at work and left no doubt that the country was important to him. It indeed would be interesting to see what Allen would do.
It was pretty telling when people also complained about kneeling before the anthem, I believe it was the Cowboys who ran into this. If they can't kneel during the anthem and they can't kneel outside of the anthem, I have a feeling those peoples' true opposition isn't about the kneeling/'disrespect'.
The issue isn't that protesting is disrespectful in itself. The issue is that a significant number of people believe that kneeling during the anthem is disrespectful.
It really comes down to a matter of practicality. If your means of protest involves something that isn't racist or evil, and your protest is perceived to be disrespectful by a significant number of people, your message is going to be lost in the chaos surrounding the protest, which is precisely what is happening now.
Rosa Parks' protest on the bus directly involved a racist practice, so it was easy to make the connection between her protest and racism. How does kneeling during the anthem correlate to police brutality or oppression? It requires the observers of the protest to make an indirect connection. IMO, Kaepernick is just using a really ineffective method to make his point.
And then, combine the above with wearing a Castro/MalcomX shirt to highlight oppression but not wanting to talk about Castro's oppressive rule, and wearing the pig cop socks and saying that it was only meant to point out the bad cops...as someone posted above, he's just not very good at communicating his point.
Alienate half the fan base that are f*ing idiots. What happened in the NFL has, at the end of the day, zero affect on anybody. It's not hurting anybody. It's not putting anybody down. People need to stop worrying about such dumb little things and focus on actual issues.
Not that I think Kapernick has been flawless, but I think the point of his protest has been purposefully deflected and distracted from by the people uncomfortable with the message from day one. It's a lot easier to paint this as a protest against the country, and get real mad, than have an uncomfortable talk about racial inequality in this country.
And again I reject the idea of peaceful protest during the anthem as disrespectful. I don't believe that's an opinion either. Just a convenient excuse for that significant number of people.
Last edited:
You are welcome to believe what you want. The reality is that many others disagree with you. And if your cause ultimately needs some of those people who disagree with you to one day agree with you, then you need to find a way to reach them.
Again the cause isn't standing/kneeling at the anthem, so why make that a focus?
Plenty of people have gotten pissed at others for speaking out against police brutality no matter how it's been done. Many seem to believe that since police officers have a tough job, nobody can question any of them regardless of the circumstances. If somebody gets shot and killed or abused in any way by the police, they had it coming. The kneeling isn't the issue for a lot of people losing their **** about it. Unfortunately getting them to agree will likely never happen. To me, the kneeling and protesting is a way of pointing out that it's happening, it's wrong, and people aren't just going to accept it and keep quiet.
Few quick thoughts. Players who kneel during the anthem have every right to. There is nothing wrong with people encouraging that and there is nothing wrong with people being discouraged by it too. This is a free country and it is alright to have different opinions. You're not going to convince people that their opinion is wrong on this subject. I personally think Kirk Ferentz is probably right saying politics should be left off the field, especially at the collegiate level. I think several pro players acknowledged the whole ordeal was probably a distraction to them playing on the field. With this being such a hot button issue, any intentional act to inflame already high tensions is not in the best interest of the program or the University, not to mention being a distraction on the field as we try to finally make it back to a bowl game which is something I hope we all want. With Twitter and social media, even a WR at Iowa State can make his opinion and grievances known with incredible reach while not necessarily doing it on the actual field and especially not during the anthem. It is wrong to try and discourage our student athletes from having and sharing their opinions. In regards to racism, we still have our issues in this country and it is important to recognize them. However, I personally would prefer that they not do it on the field and I especially don't want them to do it during the national anthem. Frankly, I thought the Dallas Cowboys approached it best. They were able to protest but all stood and honored the flag and national anthem afterwards. Just because people risked and lost their lives in order to give people the right to protest during the anthem, personally I think just because we can doesn't mean we should. Protest, share your opinions, but be cognizant of better times and places. Again, this is just my opinion but I guess my point is the anthem is around two minutes, those two minutes should be sacred as we thank those who served us, which still leaves 23 hours and 58 minutes to protest the rest of the day. The anthem should be one thing all Americans can unite behind as we celebrate those who served and were laid to rest with that same flag covering their casket. However, as citizens it is also our duty as Americans to fight for issues and causes that are important to us, I personally just think the anthem and flag should be off-limits and I would prefer at the college level to do it off the field too.
Just my humble opinion, I don't expect to persuade anybody but sharing my personal thoughts.
Just my humble opinion, I don't expect to persuade anybody but sharing my personal thoughts.
If you want to protest police violence, put some some skin in the game, and do something tangible and actually germain to police violence. If there is a particular department that you think has a problem, get a good video camera and a scanner, and start showing up at police calls to document what happens. Or start a movement in your community to dedicate part of the city budget to put body cams on officers (if they don't already have them). Or if you have lots of money (like pro athletes do), offer to buy some body cameras for the departments that can't afford them.
To be frank, IMO, kneeling at a ball game doesn't do jack squat to deal with the issue of police violence.
Protesting is supposed to be uncomfortable, and bigger stages can make bigger impacts. What bigger stage does an NFL player have then on Sunday? That's why they choose the anthem. If people don't understand they're not protesting the flag, country, vets, etc. after a year and half it's because they don't want to, not because the message isn't out there.
I've seen this repeated ad nauseum, why would you think this? It's been going on for a year and half, of course there's detractors trying to deflect, but there has also been more awareness of police brutality and other issues in our justice system than I ever remember there being. I'm not just talking about the media, or this board either. In my personal life I've seen these protests bring about discussions and awareness that I very much doubt would have happened regardless.
To tie it back to football, and an attempt to keep the mood somewhat light, it's like saying new jersey's don't win games. Of course a jersey doesn't win a game, but it's pretty easy to see that it has an effect on recruiting, which directly ties to winning games.
Yet here we are talking about it. The more its discussed, especially on a big national stage like the NFL, the better the chance that police officers handle things appropriately. If they feel like they might actually be held accountable, they just might remember that they're supposed to protect and serve not just enforce and punish. Its worth a shot anyways.
so idiots are people who differ from your opinion? not sure I get what that statment means.
Talking about police violence has never been a problem. It was part of the conversation back in the 1960's and 1970's.
