So a black millionaire athlete who was raised by a white couple finds America so oppressive he cannot stand for the National Anthem. He is the very embodiment of "privilege".
My first blush is to tell him and like-minded others they are free to go to that magical country where they will have more freedom. Heck, I will gladly let my tax dollars go toward a one-way ticket straight out of the USA for anyone who hates it here that much.
In truth, the First Amendment trumps all of those knee-jerk reactions. If Colin Kaepernik really feels that way, then he should obey his conscious. The First Amendment exists to protect the speech we find most offensive. Period.
I think he is wrong. There are no scholarships just for whites. There are no quotas in hiring or in college admissions for whites.
Is there discrimination? Yes. Whites discriminate against blacks. Blacks discriminate against whites. I have seen staunch New England liberals treat very smart guys from the south as idiots because they have an accent or talk slow. I have seen women much smarter than I treated with disdain purely based on sex. We all have biases. Even you MS Liberal. And you Mr. Kaepernik.
If you do not want to stand for the National Anthem, then don't. Just do not cry about it when your endorsements disappear and your jersey sales drop. Consequences come with taking a stand.
That's exactly right. He's entitled to his opinion, but he has to accept that the rest of the world is entitled to call him an asshole for it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if I were Donald Trump, I'd run that clip till it wore out.
The cynic in me wonders if his newfound conscious isn't a move to keep tbe 49ers from cutting him
ReplyDeleteJoe
I think there may be merit in what you surmise.
ReplyDelete