I guess what I’m wondering is did Kaepernick know conservative white America would be so filled with rage at the sight of a black person standing up for himself that they would find a way to turn it into a more socially acceptable narrative (to them). So they turned it into entitled, ungrateful, rich NFL players disrespecting the military and the flag when in actuality it is black people and their allies protesting police brutality.
I guess I don’t know if he expected his protests to lead to anything constructive or not.
It depends on how you define “constructive.” Maybe he wanted controversy because on some level he thought controversy would raise awareness and get attention. I think the reason Kaepernick took the knee was because he felt that most of the people watching at home simply shrugged off blacks getting killed by white officers as just another day in America. Yes, he knew people wouldn’t like it, but sometimes, these kinds of controversies can raise awareness and start discussions. A lot of people didn’t like Muhammad Ali’s decision to take jail over the draft, but over time, people came to understand him in a different light.
IIRC, he wasn’t advised to protest by the veteran; he was advised to take a knee rather than sit on his helmet, because he thought that it would be less controversial than just sitting down. Turns out, it didn’t really do much to defuse the controversy. At a time when the values of moderation and pragmatism are on the decline, tribalism becomes the norm. And you can’t kinda be a member of a tribe: you either are a member, or you’re not. Kaepernick and his Black colleagues have found out the hard way.
Really shocked by some of the responses in this thread.
No, Kaepernick could not have predicted that the protests would be successfully spun as something that they absolutely are not.
He’s protesting at that time because when else can he that people will see, and kneeling is arguably the most respectful pose / gesture a person can make.
I don’t pretend to be able to channel Colin Kaepernick’s thoughts, but I have a real problem trying to picture deciding to “just trigger conservatives”. What’s in it for him?
Trigger conservatives
…
Profit?
I mean, the motivation for asking the questions seems to be that it didn’t work out, so Kaepernick is supposed to have known both that it wouldn’t solve police brutality and that he’d get a sponsorship deal without having to play?
That just seems so much less likely to me than a man who wanted to use the platform available to him to bring more attention to something he though wasn’t getting enough attention.
Conservatives endorse police brutality against minorities, tacitly and explicitly, so of course they will impugn his motivations, endorsement partners and personal relationships. It’s impossible that he is genuinely appalled and sought to use his celebrity to help effect social change. Nah, he’s just an uppity loudmouth who hates America, and the troops especially.
First, “rage” is way too strong for my feelings for CK. I don’t remember what Trump said about Kerry, but yes, I was royally pissed when Captain Bone-Spurs crapped all over McCain with his “I like people who weren’t captured” comments.
You may have some idea that I’m a Republican, but I am decidedly not. The last (R) I voted for in any national election was Reagan when I was 18. I am nevertheless a veteran and I take a pretty dim view of the anthem kneeling for the chosen method of protest. Regardless, I don’t like having my distaste for Kapaernik’s kneeling being assumed as or equated to bigotry. I’d feel no different about it if it was Aaron Rodgers.
What would you consider to be an acceptable means of protest, then?
Please note that kneeling is the standard way athletes show concern for injured fellow athletes, expressing hope for their recovery. I understood Kaepernick to be similarly expressing concern for an injured country, and hope for its recovery. Yes, it would have helped if he’d stated his reasons more clearly, but isn’t *that *a far more substantial act of patriotism than ritual symbol-worship?
Second point first. The protocol for showing respect for the flag and the anthem is to stand and salute if in uniform, to remove your hat and place your hand over your heart if not. Taking a knee is absolutely the opposite of that, intentionally and pointedly so. As hard and often as right-wing media spins, this is one time they didn’t need to turn one little bit.
As far as the flag not having “jack shit” to do with the military… It doesn’t belong **exclusively **to the military, no. It is nevertheless a very central part of military culture and if there is any segment of the population that holds the flag most dear, it is the military. It’s an integral part of every single ceremony and function we have. It’s the symbol of our national ideals, our service, and Reveille and Retreat are daily reminders of all we are there for. As a young airman I was in the Honor Guard for a couple years. I carried a lot of flag-draped coffins, folded a lot of graveside flags and, just once, ended up having to be the person who handed it off to a grieving daughter. It still stands out as one of the most difficult days of my entire life.
While I can’t pretend to speak for all the military people out there, I can say that there are a lot of military members who feel that disrespect to the flag and the anthem is a slap in the face. If someone publicly smashed a crucifix every week on TV because they were pissed at the church’s scandals, would you expect rank and file Catholics to not feel insulted and angry because it wan’t “aimed” at them?
The fact that ‘conservative values’ cause people like you to fly into a rage when a black man respectfully takes a knee during the national anthem but not when Trump attacks active service members (like transgender service members), doesn’t salute the flag, mocks veterans like McCain, and so on, it’s pretty clear what the motive is. When a black man deliberately and quietly taking a knee is terrible to you but a white congressman snoring during the anthem doesn’t even warrant notice, that’s racism. When a black man protesting murder counts as disrespectful to the military but a white man kicking active service members out or insulting a vet doesn’t, that’s racism.
“Conservative values” in the Trump era are pure, blatant bigotry.
I can understand that service members feel that way, and I won’t attempt to invalidate those feelings. But do they, do you, necessarily have to feel that way? Isn’t it possible to judge something in context and separate your feelings about the flag as part of an honor guard, and the flag flying during a football game or out in someone’s front porch for that matter?
I realize I’m sometimes a little ‘different’, but I generally speaking tend to take offenses at things that are intended to be offensive. It’s the intent, not just the act itself, that should dictate whether something is offensive.
Kaepernick clearly intended to offend people who are in law enforcement and people who sympathetically take the word of law enforcement over the accused who come from Black communities. There’s no question he intended to do that. But there’s no evidence he intended to disrespect the military; in fact he (reportedly) consulted with (or was approached by?) a former veteran who basically said that if he’s not going to honor the flag, kneeling was, at least in his view better than sitting on his helmet.
I understand that the flag can be an emotional reminder of wartime trauma, but can’t it be something else at the same time? Can’t it be something completely different in a completely different context? Is it fair to impose life experiences and values on others?
This is factually, objectively, not true. Disrespect for the flag is rampant in this country, especially by conservatives, and hardly anyone gets pissed off over it. In fact, a lot of people, especially conservatives, get pissed off at people who don’t disrespect the flag. I mean, just recently, the President Pro Tem literally publicly lambasted people for not walking all over the flag.
When people tell me that they’re upset with Kaepernick for disrespecting the flag, I know that they’re not telling me the truth, because they’re not upset over anyone else disrespecting the flag. Which means both that there’s some other reason they’re upset with Kaepernick, and that they don’t want to say what that other reason is. Now, maybe that reason isn’t racism, but it’s certainly a logical conclusion to draw.
Whoa! Slow down there Charlie! Your projector is going to overheat!
“Fly into a rage” is waaaaayyyy too strong, and “respectfully taking a knee” is oxymoronic when there is established protocol for showing respect to the anthem.
The idea that I support Trump in ANY way, let alone on his ban on transgendered troops, attacks on McCain, and pretty much anything he’s ever done is 100% wrong. I’m center-left and a registered Democrat for fuck’s sake. Regardless, all the non-sequiturs and false dichotomies you suddenly injected into the thread have no bearing on what I was saying, which boils down to not painting every person that doesn’t like CK’s kneeling as some sort of racist asshole. You can dislike the method of the protest regardless of the message.