# Mike Ditka: "There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503 "2017-10-10T18:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/1 "2017-10-10T18:45:27Z")
Ditka weighed in on the recent NFL protest controversy. According to him, it’s pointless because there’s nothing to protest: “All of a sudden, it’s become a big deal now, about oppression. There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of. Now maybe I’m not watching it as carefully as other people.” I’ve seen Ditka on television. I know he hasn’t been in a coma for the last hundred years. So I have a hard time seeing how anyone can claim they haven’t seen any sign of racial oppression occurring since 1917. Ditka is 77 years old. He was fifteen when Brown v. Board of Education was decided. He was sixteen years old the year Emmett Till was murdered and Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of a bus. He was eighteen the year Eisenhower sent troops to integrate Little Rock schools. He was twenty when sit-ins at segregated restaurants started. He was twenty-three when there were riots at the University of Mississippi over a black student being admitted. Hell, even if he just followed the sports news, he would have heard about Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/2 "2017-10-10T18:46:52Z")
I don’t doubt for a moment that he doesn’t know of it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/3 "2017-10-10T18:47:19Z")
He’s not watching it as carefully as other people. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/4 "2017-10-10T18:49:18Z")
Evidence of CTE in a still-living former player. Or he’s a idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/5 "2017-10-10T18:50:25Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He’s not watching it as carefully as other people. But how not carefully do you have to watch to have lived through the fifties and sixties and not be aware of the civil rights movement? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/6 "2017-10-10T18:52:43Z")
The [Tuskegee Syphilis experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment) was conducted during his lifetime. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But how not carefully do you have to watch to have lived through the fifties and sixties and not be aware of the civil rights movement? ikr ETA: [Holy fuck; it gets worse](http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-ditka-nfl-protests-20171010-story.html): > [@](#): > > Ditka said of the players’ protests: “Is this the stage for this? If you want to protest, whatever you want to protest, you’ve got a right to do that. But I think you’re a professional athlete, you have an obligation to the game. I think you have to respect the game, that’s what I think is the most important thing.” Yes, respecting the game of football should take precedence over respecting the rights of people to not be killed by agents of the state; sure, Mike. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/7 "2017-10-10T18:54:28Z")
sports injury? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/8 "2017-10-10T18:54:39Z")
There really are people who insist they’re not racist because they disapprove of lynchings, while the day to day stuff, the police beatings and the occasional shooting the colored guy had coming, all that petty crap the libtards keep yammering about, is just snowflaky political correctness. But there’s no more racism. It’s a marvelous defense mechanism. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/9 "2017-10-10T18:55:14Z")
A rule that continues to be confirmed, again and again, for me – as wise as old people are about many things, in general, their knowledge and understanding and wisdom with regards to the experiences and suffering of groups they’re not a part of tends to be inversely proportional to their age. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/10 "2017-10-10T18:58:04Z")
But he, a wealthy white male, didn’t personally experience any of that stuff so therefore it didn’t happen. At least he’s not parroting the ridiculous GOP line about the protests disrespecting the troops, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/11 "2017-10-10T19:10:47Z")
> [@PigArcher](#): > > But he, a wealthy white male, didn’t personally experience any of that stuff so therefore it didn’t happen. > > At least he’s not parroting the ridiculous GOP line about the protests disrespecting the troops, somehow. Of course not. The sentiment he’s spouting is more fatuous: “not respecting the game.” > [@Dictionary](#): > > game > 1 a (1) :activity engaged in for diversion or amusement So. Um. Respect a diversion or amusement? Yeah, I know. Players and coaches tend to hold “the game” in virtually religious regard. I enjoy watching, and I’ve enjoyed playing, but in no way would I hold it in the reverence required for the phrase “respecting the game” to make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/12 "2017-10-10T19:14:06Z")
It’s like a hurricane of ignorance blew through his head. He’s older than me. He had to see the civil rights marchers with fire hoses trained on them. If he played any football in the south and spent any time there, he had to see the “colored only” signs on certain bathrooms and drinking fountains. Surely he knew of the Civil Rights Act. What did he think it was for? ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/13 "2017-10-10T19:26:25Z")
Surprising. The Ditkas are usually so on-the-ball. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/14 "2017-10-10T19:37:20Z")
Sounds like Ditka is just in crazy uncle mode now. I doubt there’s any meaning behind his words other than “That’s not the way we did it in the good old days”. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/15 "2017-10-10T19:42:19Z")
71yo man is as dumb as the President he voted for. Film at 11. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/16 "2017-10-10T19:44:53Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It’s like a hurricane of ignorance blew through his head. A hurricane ditka, you say? Sadly, another celebrity who seemed like a nice normal guy revealed to actually be a clueless possibly bigoted asshole. (see Don Garlits and Richard Petty, as well.) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/17 "2017-10-10T19:52:01Z")
He was a great football player, and with Buddy Ryan’s help had at least 1 really good year as a coach. Maybe we’re exposed to him a little more in Chicago, but when he talks about non-football subjects he really is an Archie Bunker level idiot. Da Coach. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/18 "2017-10-10T19:52:26Z")
Ditka did not personally experience racism, so therefore, it is no big deal. Nobody ever denied \*\*him \*\*a job or an opportunity due to the color of his skin, therefor that never, ever happened to anyone at any time. Really, this is how many people experience the world. They see it entirely through their own eyes, and are completely, utterly unable to fathom that other people experience different things. They are at the center of the universe, and they simply Don’t Get. It. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/19 "2017-10-10T19:58:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Sounds like Ditka is just in crazy uncle mode now. I doubt there’s any meaning behind his words other than “That’s not the way we did it in the good old days”. That’s pretty much it. One too many tackles with a loose helmet’s my guess – that and the fact that he when other kids were studying history he was probably trying to use a street lamp or an oak tree as a tackling dummy. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/20 "2017-10-10T20:07:08Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Ditka did not personally experience racism, so therefore, it is no big deal. Nobody ever denied \*\*him \*\*a job or an opportunity due to the color of his skin, therefor that never, ever happened to anyone at any time. > > \*\*Really, this is how many people experience the world. They see it entirely through their own eyes, and are completely, utterly unable to fathom that other people experience different things. They are at the center of the universe, and they simply > > \*\*Don’t > Get. > It. This is actually the essence of American conservatism. It’s not an example of being an idiot - a lot of conservatives that I know are actually pretty wicked smart and could probably run circles around me in a lot of subjects. But there’s this attitude that “I know what I know, and what I know is all that needs to be known.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503.md?page=2)