Kaepernick

Glad to hear you're listening to WCPT. There may be hope for you yet
Slavery and the national anthem: The surprising history behind Colin Kaepernick's protes
CNN)

Quote :

"I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag. I know that I am a black man in a white world."
That's not Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback whose refusal to stand during the national anthem has invited criticism from all corners of the sports world.

That's Jackie Robinson, beloved baseball pioneer and civil rights activist, writing in his 1972 autobiography, "I Never Had It Made."
After Kaepernick was spotted sitting during the anthem preceding last Friday's NFL preseason game, the struggling quarterback said he would not stand "to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."
It's hard not to notice their words are almost perfectly aligned. But it shouldn't be a surprise when you consider some historical context, namely, that the anthem actually contains a reference to slavery and Kaepernick is far from the first athlete to question its scope.
The national anthem's forgotten lyrics
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 about the American victory at the Battle of Fort McHenry. We only sing the first verse, but Key penned three more. This is the third verse:

Quote :

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The mere mention of "slave" is not entirely remarkable; slavery was alive and well in the United States in 1814. Key himself owned slaves, was an anti-abolitionist and once called his African brethren "a distinct and inferior race of people."
Some interpretations of these lyrics contend Key was in fact taking pleasure in the deaths of freed black slaves who had decided to fight with the British against the United States.
In order to bolster their numbers, British forces offered slaves their freedom in British territories if they would join their cause during the war. These black recruits formed the Colonial Marines, and were looked down upon by people like Key who saw their actions as treasonous.
As an anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has never been a unanimous fit. Since it was officially designated as the national anthem in 1931, Americans have debated the suitability of its militaristic lyrics and difficult tune. (Some have offered up "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" as alternatives.)
Athletes and the American ritual
The salute that changed the world

The American ritual of the national anthem has always been a crucible for patriotism and protest. It presents a particularly fraught dynamic for sports stars, since sports events are often so closely tied with the rhetoric of American pride. When a highly visible opinion comes up against a highly visible symbol, the result is always incendiary.
Around the same time Jackie Robinson was using his achievements to advance civil rights causes, two American Olympic runners, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, raised their fists in a black power salute during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City as the anthem was playing.
The result was iconic. The reaction was ugly. Racial slurs were hurled at the pair and an article in Time called it a "public display of petulance."
Today, similar criticisms have been leveled against Kaepernick, a biracial Super Bowl quarterback who was raised by white adoptive parents and made $13 million in 2014. He was called "spoiled." He was called far worse in his Twitter mentions.
It's a lot of ire for a gesture with a strong historical and rhetorical precedent.
One doesn't even need to dip into iconic moments in history to follow the trend.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers player Dion Waiters refused to be on the court for the anthem in 2014. And Denver Nuggets player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf courted criticism after he deliberately sat during the anthem in 1996.
In fact, Kaepernick didn't stand for the first two preseason games of this year prior to Friday's display. He wasn't in uniform, so no one noticed. Or if they did, they didn't care.

happy jack wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Glad to hear you're listening to WCPT. There may be hope for you yet
Slavery and the national anthem: The surprising history behind Colin Kaepernick's protes
CNN)

Quote :

"I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag. I know that I am a black man in a white world."
That's not Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback whose refusal to stand during the national anthem has invited criticism from all corners of the sports world.

That's Jackie Robinson, beloved baseball pioneer and civil rights activist, writing in his 1972 autobiography, "I Never Had It Made."
After Kaepernick was spotted sitting during the anthem preceding last Friday's NFL preseason game, the struggling quarterback said he would not stand "to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."
It's hard not to notice their words are almost perfectly aligned. But it shouldn't be a surprise when you consider some historical context, namely, that the anthem actually contains a reference to slavery and Kaepernick is far from the first athlete to question its scope.
The national anthem's forgotten lyrics
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 about the American victory at the Battle of Fort McHenry. We only sing the first verse, but Key penned three more. This is the third verse:

Quote :

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The mere mention of "slave" is not entirely remarkable; slavery was alive and well in the United States in 1814. Key himself owned slaves, was an anti-abolitionist and once called his African brethren "a distinct and inferior race of people."
Some interpretations of these lyrics contend Key was in fact taking pleasure in the deaths of freed black slaves who had decided to fight with the British against the United States.
In order to bolster their numbers, British forces offered slaves their freedom in British territories if they would join their cause during the war. These black recruits formed the Colonial Marines, and were looked down upon by people like Key who saw their actions as treasonous.
As an anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has never been a unanimous fit. Since it was officially designated as the national anthem in 1931, Americans have debated the suitability of its militaristic lyrics and difficult tune. (Some have offered up "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" as alternatives.)
Athletes and the American ritual
The salute that changed the world

The American ritual of the national anthem has always been a crucible for patriotism and protest. It presents a particularly fraught dynamic for sports stars, since sports events are often so closely tied with the rhetoric of American pride. When a highly visible opinion comes up against a highly visible symbol, the result is always incendiary.
Around the same time Jackie Robinson was using his achievements to advance civil rights causes, two American Olympic runners, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, raised their fists in a black power salute during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City as the anthem was playing.
The result was iconic. The reaction was ugly. Racial slurs were hurled at the pair and an article in Time called it a "public display of petulance."
Today, similar criticisms have been leveled against Kaepernick, a biracial Super Bowl quarterback who was raised by white adoptive parents and made $13 million in 2014. He was called "spoiled." He was called far worse in his Twitter mentions.
It's a lot of ire for a gesture with a strong historical and rhetorical precedent.
One doesn't even need to dip into iconic moments in history to follow the trend.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers player Dion Waiters refused to be on the court for the anthem in 2014. And Denver Nuggets player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf courted criticism after he deliberately sat during the anthem in 1996.
In fact, Kaepernick didn't stand for the first two preseason games of this year prior to Friday's display. He wasn't in uniform, so no one noticed. Or if they did, they didn't care.

Jackie Robinson, by paying his dues, earned the right to say what he said.
Colin Kaepernick is a whiny, entitled little shit.

Should be obvious, but just in case...

Jackie Robinson should not have needed to "earn" the right to "say what he said," because the First Amendment applies to all citizens... no need for any "dues paying."  That includes Kaepernick as well... It doesn't matter if he is whiny and entitled or not.

happy jack wrote:

That both Robinson and Kaepernick each have the right to say such things goes without saying.
But of the two, only Robinson earned the right to say it without being called a whiny, entitled little shit.
"Hero", my fucking dick.
Only in the eyes of a liberal could he be seen as a "hero".

I really don't understand what the big deal is... he's merely exercising his First Amendment rights.
That doesn't make him a hero. He's simply a protester.

happy jack wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

happy jack wrote:

That both Robinson and Kaepernick each have the right to say such things goes without saying.
But of the two, only Robinson earned the right to say it without being called a whiny, entitled little shit.
"Hero", my fucking dick.
Only in the eyes of a liberal could he be seen as a "hero".

I really don't understand what the big deal is... he's merely exercising his First Amendment rights.
That doesn't make him a hero.   He's simply a protester.  

I don't understand what the big deal is, either, but it's apparently a big enough deal so as to cause liberals to make him out to be a hero, as stated in my first post.

Unless I'm missing something, you heard one guy on the radio make a comment. That's a pretty flimsy case for your statement implicating
all "liberals."

Scorpion wrote:

happy jack wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

happy jack wrote:

That both Robinson and Kaepernick each have the right to say such things goes without saying.
But of the two, only Robinson earned the right to say it without being called a whiny, entitled little shit.
"Hero", my fucking dick.
Only in the eyes of a liberal could he be seen as a "hero".

I really don't understand what the big deal is... he's merely exercising his First Amendment rights.
That doesn't make him a hero.   He's simply a protester.  

I don't understand what the big deal is, either, but it's apparently a big enough deal so as to cause liberals to make him out to be a hero, as stated in my first post.

Unless I'm missing something, you heard one guy on the radio make a comment.  That's a pretty flimsy case for your statement implicating
all "liberals."  

These are just a few of the first things that popped up when I googled 'Kaepernick hero'.
So, yeah, you are missing something.




http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_30322274/thomas-peele-kaepernick-is-first-amendment-hero
Thomas Peele: Kaepernick is First Amendment hero
By Thomas Peeletpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com
POSTED:   09/02/2016 04:00:00 PM PDT | UPDATED:   ABOUT 11 HOURS AGO


Colin Kaepernick's a hero.
Dissenters almost always are.
There are simply few single acts more patriotic for an American than reasoned dissent from the status quo of governance. (Claiming troops are hiding under a Walmart about to seize private guns, invading a National Wildlife Refuge in the name of liberty or claiming the president's a Muslim terrorist are not among them).
But refusing to stand for the national anthem in support of oppressed people is. Of that there's no doubt.


https://www.rt.com/usa/358030-kaepernick-national-anthem-knee/

Hero in a helmet: Kaepernick takes a knee against police brutality and American exceptionalism
Published time: 2 Sep, 2016 11:53


San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, America's most courageous, or hated, athlete, depending who you ask, went into the belly of the beast Thursday and took a knee during the national anthem in advance of a "Salute to the Military" game.
Backed by teammate Eric Reid, the two players protested silently before a pre-season game in the military town of San Diego while a US Navy Officer sang about “bombs bursting in air” and a land that’s supposedly free.

http://fusion.net/story/341639/colin-kaepernick-muhammad-ali-john-carlos/

SOCIAL JUSTICE

8/29/16 4:20 PM
Colin Kaepernick will eventually be seen as a hero. Just ask Muhammad Ali.


When John Carlos and his fellow sprinter Tommie Smith raised their fists at the 1968 Olympics in solidarity with the black liberation movement in America, the backlash was swift and intense.
Carlos and Smith were banned from the Olympics for life. Brent Musberger, now a widely-known sportscaster but then a columnist for the Chicago American, called Smith and Carlos “a pair of black-skinned stormtroopers” and wrote that “perhaps it’s time 20 year old athletes quit passing themselves off as social philosophers.” In the New York Times, Arthur Daley wrote, “Smith and Carlos brought their world smack into the Olympic Games, where it did not belong.”

………

The NFL regular season hasn’t even started; surely, Kaepernick, as long as he continues to sit for the anthem (which he intends to do), will continue to get this reaction. He can be comforted by the fact that, over the long arc of history, he’ll be the one to come out on top.

Look - I agree that he's no Jackie Robinson.  But he is standing up for what he believes in, whether you like him or not... I don't see how you can maintain that "only a liberal" can appreciate what he is doing...

happy jack wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

Look - I agree that he's no Jackie Robinson.  But he is standing up for what he believes in, whether you like him or not... I don't see how you can maintain that "only a liberal" can appreciate what he is doing...

This douche has hit the liberal trifecta - the hatred of whites, cops, and country.

"Liberals" don't hate any of those things. If you truly believe that they do, then you're delusional.

happy jack wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

happy jack wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

Look - I agree that he's no Jackie Robinson.  But he is standing up for what he believes in, whether you like him or not... I don't see how you can maintain that "only a liberal" can appreciate what he is doing...

This douche has hit the liberal trifecta - the hatred of whites, cops, and country.

"Liberals" don't hate any of those things.  If you truly believe that they do, then you're delusional.

Really?
How is it, then, that when this clown brings his hatred of whites, cops, and country to the fore, he becomes their hero?
What, exactly, do they admire him for, if not for his hatred of whites, cops, and country?

Here's his stated reason for his protest...

Quote :

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

It sounds like he is objecting to the behavior of some of the police, specifically against people of color.

That doesn't sound even remotely like "I hate whites" or "I hate cops," or I hate the country."

He's simply drawing attention to injustice, and calling for change.

So who won the poll on how long it would take before happy started whining about Kaepernick?  It  wasn't me.  I thought it would be hours.

happy jack wrote:

 This douche has hit the liberal trifecta - the hatred of whites, cops, and country.

Scorpion wrote:

   

"Liberals" don't hate any of those things.  If you truly believe that they do, then you're delusional.

Quote :

…. or a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game.

If the 'oppressors' he is talking about are not whites, then what do you think he is talking about?

Quote :

There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

If the “people getting paid leave and getting away with murder” he is talking about are not cops, then what do you think he is talking about?

Quote :

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country ….

If he is not talking about his disdain for the country that forced him to become a millionaire, then what do you think he is talking about?

Why has he suddenly become the liberals' hero du jour, if not for that trifecta?

happy jack wrote:

If he is not talking about his disdain for the country that forced him to become a millionaire...

So you can't be upset with institutional racism and police brutality if you have money?

happy jack wrote:

Why has he suddenly become the liberals' hero du jour...

Seriously?  Because of one talking head on the radio and a google search?  Raise your fucking standards.

Let's not forget that we wouldn't be talking about him had the right not lost their fucking minds over this and forgot what exercising one's First Amendment rights actually looks like.  That's the more terrifying, and far bigger, aspect of this story.

Jim Wright wrote:

With threats, by violence, by shame, you can maybe compel Kaepernick to stand up and put his hand over his heart and force him to be quiet. You might.

But that's not respect.

It's only the illusion of respect.

You might force this man into the illusion of respect. You might. Would you be satisfied then? Would that make you happy? Would that make you respect your nation, the one which forced a man into the illusion of respect, a nation of little clockwork patriots all pretending satisfaction and respect? Is that what you want? If THAT's what matters to you, the illusion of respect, then you're not talking about freedom or liberty. You're not talking about the United States of America. Instead you're talking about every dictatorship from the Nazis to North Korea where people are lined up and MADE to salute with the muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of their necks.

That, that illusion of respect, is not why I wore a uniform.

SOURCE

Yeah, this reminds me of the reaction of the right to the protests of the war in Iraq. If you were against the War, you were considered a "traitor" who didn't "support our troops," and "hated America."

happy jack wrote:

And let’s not forget that those who have commented on Kaepernick's actions also have the right to exercise their freedom of speech.

Exactly.  Unfortunately, it was the conservative media storm calling out this uppity black man for not knowing his place, for not knowing to shut up and not exercise his rights, is what turned a boring protest into the frenzy it is. It was absolutely their freedom to demonstrate to the rest of us how much they really don't like the First Amendment.

There was a student who refused to stand for the Pledge at school the day before Kaepernick; he got assaulted by the teacher.  Nobody knows his name because there was no conservative freakout over it.

happy jack wrote:

I have yet to see any instance in which his 1st amendment rights were violated.

Neither did I.  It was the conservatives calling for it that are the problem.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/09/19/chicago-suburban-mattress-store-to-colin-kaepernick/

Suburban Mattress Seller No Fan Of Defiant QB Colin Kaepernick


September 19, 2016 5:39 PM By Vince Gerasole

(CBS) – San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is opting not to stand during the national anthem. Now, one suburban store owner has a reply to the pro athlete.
At a mattress store in Crestwood, owner Dave Gerwing isn’t taking the national discussion lying down.
“People have made the ultimate sacrifice. They have died for our freedoms,” he says. “Sitting down on your butt is nothing more than a disservice and disrespect to the people fighting for our rights.”
He’s talking about Kaepernick, an African-American player who has chosen not to stand during the “Star Spangled Banner” in protest to racial injustice.
“Does he have the right to protest? Absolutely,” Gerwing says. “The same way I have the right to put his jersey on the floor.”
A replica of the Kaepernick’s jersey sits as a doormat at the entrance to his shop, beside a sign inviting customers to wipe their feet.
“This is not a race issue for me,” Gerwing says. “If this were Eli Manning doing this, his jersey would be on the floor right now as well.”

.........

happy jack wrote:

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/09/19/chicago-suburban-mattress-store-to-colin-kaepernick/

Suburban Mattress Seller No Fan Of Defiant QB Colin Kaepernick


“Does he have the right to protest? Absolutely,” Gerwing says. “The same way I have the right to put his jersey on the floor.”
A replica of the Kaepernick’s jersey sits as a doormat at the entrance to his shop, beside a sign inviting customers to wipe their feet.

Well that's certainly going to teach Kaepernick a lesson.   How on earth will he ever enjoy life again knowing that some idiot asshat store owner is using a replica jersey,that btw, he had to pay for and which benefits Kaepernick,as a doormat??

Let me think.....
Current Contract

Colin Kaepernick signed a 6 year, $114,000,000 contract with the San Francisco 49ers, including a $12,328,766 signing bonus, $61,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $19,000,000. In 2016, Kaepernick will earn a base salary of $11,900,000, a roster bonus of $2,000,000 and a workout bonus of $400,000. Kaepernick has a cap hit of $15,890,753 while his dead money value is $19,697,260.