SMH

[HuskerNation1]

 

 

 

 

When I was growing up I faced racial discrimination on a daily bases. I was attacked verbally and even violently because of the color of my skin. I lived in a very poor part of town and was raised by a single mother. I was ridiculed because I only had one pair of pants and two shirts to wear to school. My sister and I basically raised ourselves because my un-educated mother could not find a good job. She had to take the worst sh!t work she could find just to make ends meet. Gang violence was an occurrence that I saw (and tried to avoid) on a regular basis. There were shootings, stabbings and beatings that took place right in the street just feet from my shabby little run-down apartment. Nobody in my immediate family had ever graduated college so our family ethos was not one of placing importance on education. As such, I didn't do well in high school. While in school, because of my beliefs and outspokeness on social issues, I was often ridiculed not only by fellow students, but by my teachers as well. You see, I went to a high school where the teachers were not like me. In my neighborhood I was regularly pulled over by the police, told to sit on the curb (sometimes handcuffed) and watched by one officer while another basically tore apart the car I was driving. Before I could drive, I was often stopped on the street while walking along minding my own business and called over to a passing police car. The officers would exit and tell me to assume the position with my hands on the hood of the car, feet spread, while they searched me for weapons and contraband. There were no programs for youth in my neighborhood, particularly any specifically designed to help a kid like me who was a racial minority in that neighborhood and therefore didn't really fit in with the goals of those programs that did exist. When I got out of high school, there were no scholarships available. You see, I had to go and hustle and get work to help support my then aging mother, so my job disqualified me for financial needs based scholarships or aid, and there were no scholarships available for people of my race. I know very well what it's like to grow up without privilege. I have lost a job and not gotten others (and not gotten a promotion) because of the color of my skin, and it's very frustrating. However, I have become relatively successful and I owe it all to the opportunities that this country has provided for me.

 

As others have said, this place is not perfect, I know this better than most people, but it's still the greatest country on earth. I am absolutely in favor of the rights of college students to peacefully protest. However, I don't think they should be disrespectful. I believe that kneeling during the national anthem is a way to purposely show disrespect in order to get a rise out of people. That accomplishes very little and is in reality more divisive at a time when we should be looking for ways to bring people together and make our great nation even greater. If a player has a philosophical or religious reason not to stand before the flag, I'm okay with that. However, I think teams should start to make accommodations for those players so that their opposition doesn't fly in the face of people who are not attempting to do them any harm; but are simply trying to show their love of this great country. I would have no problem with allowing players who just can't stand for the anthem to wait in the locker room until the anthem was over. That way they wouldn't be going against their consciences and at the same time wouldn't be offending others. Of course they wouldn't get the opportunity to be provocative, but perhaps during the national anthem isn't the best time to be provocative.

I have a hard time figuring out what to make of your post. The first half is much needed insight and perspective. The second half seems out of touch and tone deaf.

 

Here's the thing: Practically all forms of protest are "divisive" and/or "disrespectful". I keep hearing that all these things are divisive and we should be doing things to bring people together... OK well I'm all ears. This sh#t has been going on for a verrrry long time, and not being provocative doesn't really seem to accomplish anything.

 

The fact that there are people who get more outraged at someone kneeling during the national anthem then they do when people are needlessly killed is pretty f'ing sad. (Not saying this applies to you, just in general)

You can make whatever you want (or don't want). The first half of my post was meant to describe and explain the fact that my opinion on this matter is not reached because I have lived some life of privilege. The truth is exactly the opposite.

 

I would like to respectfully disagree with your reply. Protests can be done in many ways that are not divisive and not intended to be disrespectful. The people who are taking part in these protests are not helping anything. They are not promoting a productive discussion. This thread is a microcosm of what is happening in the national debate. People are insulting each other back-and-forth, there is no common ground being reached, no insight is achieved, no progress is made; the point they are trying to make is lost in their actions. To say that police abused of power is wrong, is an understatement. But those protests are not getting people to talk about police abuse. They are talking about the fact that these protesters are doing something to offend people who in many cases agree with their point. As I said, it's divisive and it really accomplishes nothing.

Well said California Husker. I agree that the current approach to protesting is creating more divisiveness rather than helping to spotlight whatever cause that is being supported.

[knapplc]

I would like to respectfully disagree with your reply. Protests can be done in many ways that are not divisive and not intended to be disrespectful. The people who are taking part in these protests are not helping anything. They are not promoting a productive discussion. This thread is a microcosm of what is happening in the national debate. People are insulting each other back-and-forth, there is no common ground being reached, no insight is achieved, no progress is made; the point they are trying to make is lost in their actions. To say that police abused of power is wrong, is an understatement. But those protests are not getting people to talk about police abuse. They are talking about the fact that these protesters are doing something to offend people who in many cases agree with their point. As I said, it's divisive and it really accomplishes nothing.

All they're doing is taking a knee during the anthem. They are not promoting any specific type of discourse. The angry rhetoric comes from people who choose to take offense to it.

 

Being offended here is a personal choice. We can disagree with the act without getting offended. What they're doing is respectful dissent. They are not burning the flag, turning their back on the anthem, nothing provocative.

[austinhusker]

For some of you, if there is an afterlife, I really hope God is black.

 

 

Huh? Good one?

[VectorVictor]

And laying the new racial divide at Obama's feet? Oh Bnilhome, you are the cherry on a sh#t sundae.

 

This just made me chortle. Thank you Guy for brightening up a dreary Monday morn'.

[Pedro Guerrero]

How is it possible that we even know that these protests are going on or that some players held the flag? Shouldn’t the photographers be standing at attention with their hands over their hearts? Where is the hate and outrage towards them? Why aren’t the 1000’s of people walking in the concourse or still tailgating outside the stadium (where they can hear the anthem) not getting raked over the coals for not standing at attention with their hands over their hearts?

 

I don’t understand why people allow complete strangers doing something in a peaceful non-threatening way offend them so much. This is the stuff that makes America GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!! If you choose to be so outraged by it maybe you need to look inside your own heart and see what’s there.

[Elf]

 

 

To all those who are so outraged over these players kneeling:

 

We're you outraged when the flag hit the ground as the parachutist landed? The flag is never supposed to touch the ground. Do you yell at those who don't take off their hats during the anthem? What about those chatting? Those things are by far more disrespectful.

 

When these players kneel, they still face the flag and pay attention. Before you decry their protest, learn about what it is about and try to understand. These guys mostly come from an America much different than the one you and I have experience.

 

 

 

Those who are outraged, have as much right to be heard as those who sparked the outrage.

 

Of course they do. They talk about the players disrespecting the flag. I'm curious if they have the same levels of outrage over other forms of disrespect.

 

Does it really matter? Each individual is outraged by different things. What outrages you may or may not cause high levels of outrage from your neighbor.

 

In this particular discussion we are talking about disrespecting our country and the national anthem. That's the subject, how about we stick with it and not try to deflect to other things?

[Undone]

In this particular discussion we are talking about disrespecting our country and the national anthem. That's the subject, how about we stick with it and not try to deflect to other things?

 

I think you're mainly correct; I think we can actually take the race issue out of this even, if we wanted to.

 

The thing is, protest is often times disrespectful yet simultaneously peaceful. I think it's really important for people to contemplate the irony of not understanding that when you look at the flag during the anthem, you're acknowledging and reflecting on the liberties protected by our Constitution, in my opinion. One of those liberties is the right to *peacefully* assemble, and the right to have your free speech protected. They're facing the flag, but making a peaceful protest by kneeling. This is within their rights, fully.

 

They have every right to do this. Hopefully we can all begin to agree on this - it's pivotal. The subjectivity of whether or not it's disrespectful is really a separate topic, IMO.

[Guy Chamberlin]

It's too bad the BLM movement is Marxist at its core, or else I might pay more attention to it.

 

I recently saw 90,000 people in a stadium chanting "Go Big Red!"

 

Who knew communism had gained such a foothold in America?

[NKYHusker]

I'm more bothered by the comments from the mouth-breathers below the article in the original post. Clearly no IQ test to post in a newspaper comment section. The name-calling is about as sophomoric as it gets.

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

Just keep in mind that the rhetoric used to discredit black protestors today is almost identical to the rhetoric white people leveled against the civil rights movement 50 years ago: the negroes have brought this upon themselves. They need to be patient, show more respect, don't talk back to police, etc.

 

History didn't look kindly at the first round of soft core racism. It's not going to be any prettier this time.

 

And laying the new racial divide at Obama's feet? Oh Bnilhome, you are the cherry on a sh#t sundae.

Still resorting to personal attacks I see...I guess nothing has changed. Since it's been referenced many times before, for those that consider themselves center right or conservative, this is what you experience in the P&R forum when making a point.

 

 

I called you a sweet candied fruit, the color of our favorite team.

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

 

 

When I was growing up I faced racial discrimination on a daily bases. I was attacked verbally and even violently because of the color of my skin. I lived in a very poor part of town and was raised by a single mother. I was ridiculed because I only had one pair of pants and two shirts to wear to school. My sister and I basically raised ourselves because my un-educated mother could not find a good job. She had to take the worst sh!t work she could find just to make ends meet. Gang violence was an occurrence that I saw (and tried to avoid) on a regular basis. There were shootings, stabbings and beatings that took place right in the street just feet from my shabby little run-down apartment. Nobody in my immediate family had ever graduated college so our family ethos was not one of placing importance on education. As such, I didn't do well in high school. While in school, because of my beliefs and outspokeness on social issues, I was often ridiculed not only by fellow students, but by my teachers as well. You see, I went to a high school where the teachers were not like me. In my neighborhood I was regularly pulled over by the police, told to sit on the curb (sometimes handcuffed) and watched by one officer while another basically tore apart the car I was driving. Before I could drive, I was often stopped on the street while walking along minding my own business and called over to a passing police car. The officers would exit and tell me to assume the position with my hands on the hood of the car, feet spread, while they searched me for weapons and contraband. There were no programs for youth in my neighborhood, particularly any specifically designed to help a kid like me who was a racial minority in that neighborhood and therefore didn't really fit in with the goals of those programs that did exist. When I got out of high school, there were no scholarships available. You see, I had to go and hustle and get work to help support my then aging mother, so my job disqualified me for financial needs based scholarships or aid, and there were no scholarships available for people of my race. I know very well what it's like to grow up without privilege. I have lost a job and not gotten others (and not gotten a promotion) because of the color of my skin, and it's very frustrating. However, I have become relatively successful and I owe it all to the opportunities that this country has provided for me.

 

As others have said, this place is not perfect, I know this better than most people, but it's still the greatest country on earth. I am absolutely in favor of the rights of college students to peacefully protest. However, I don't think they should be disrespectful. I believe that kneeling during the national anthem is a way to purposely show disrespect in order to get a rise out of people. That accomplishes very little and is in reality more divisive at a time when we should be looking for ways to bring people together and make our great nation even greater. If a player has a philosophical or religious reason not to stand before the flag, I'm okay with that. However, I think teams should start to make accommodations for those players so that their opposition doesn't fly in the face of people who are not attempting to do them any harm; but are simply trying to show their love of this great country. I would have no problem with allowing players who just can't stand for the anthem to wait in the locker room until the anthem was over. That way they wouldn't be going against their consciences and at the same time wouldn't be offending others. Of course they wouldn't get the opportunity to be provocative, but perhaps during the national anthem isn't the best time to be provocative.

I have a hard time figuring out what to make of your post. The first half is much needed insight and perspective. The second half seems out of touch and tone deaf.

 

Here's the thing: Practically all forms of protest are "divisive" and/or "disrespectful". I keep hearing that all these things are divisive and we should be doing things to bring people together... OK well I'm all ears. This sh#t has been going on for a verrrry long time, and not being provocative doesn't really seem to accomplish anything.

 

The fact that there are people who get more outraged at someone kneeling during the national anthem then they do when people are needlessly killed is pretty f'ing sad. (Not saying this applies to you, just in general)

You can make whatever you want (or don't want). The first half of my post was meant to describe and explain the fact that my opinion on this matter is not reached because I have lived some life of privilege. The truth is exactly the opposite.

 

I would like to respectfully disagree with your reply. Protests can be done in many ways that are not divisive and not intended to be disrespectful. The people who are taking part in these protests are not helping anything. They are not promoting a productive discussion. This thread is a microcosm of what is happening in the national debate. People are insulting each other back-and-forth, there is no common ground being reached, no insight is achieved, no progress is made; the point they are trying to make is lost in their actions. To say that police abused of power is wrong, is an understatement. But those protests are not getting people to talk about police abuse. They are talking about the fact that these protesters are doing something to offend people who in many cases agree with their point. As I said, it's divisive and it really accomplishes nothing.

Well said California Husker. I agree that the current approach to protesting is creating more divisiveness rather than helping to spotlight whatever cause that is being supported.

 

 

Again, isn't it a bit weird that African-Americans are getting shot in front of their children with their hands up, and they have to worry about offending white people with their silent protests?

 

And again, you have a working model of the 20th century civil rights movement with all the proof you need that successful protests don't go the way the privileged would prefer.

 

Since you've written many posts suggesting you don't believe the cause is even valid, don't pretend you're merely arguing over the position of the spotlight.

[Cdog923]

Red Dead Redemption pretty much has the definitive series of posts on the issue. I'd quote them all, but that's too much text at once.

[Cdog923]

 

 

 

 

When I was growing up I faced racial discrimination on a daily bases. I was attacked verbally and even violently because of the color of my skin. I lived in a very poor part of town and was raised by a single mother. I was ridiculed because I only had one pair of pants and two shirts to wear to school. My sister and I basically raised ourselves because my un-educated mother could not find a good job. She had to take the worst sh!t work she could find just to make ends meet. Gang violence was an occurrence that I saw (and tried to avoid) on a regular basis. There were shootings, stabbings and beatings that took place right in the street just feet from my shabby little run-down apartment. Nobody in my immediate family had ever graduated college so our family ethos was not one of placing importance on education. As such, I didn't do well in high school. While in school, because of my beliefs and outspokeness on social issues, I was often ridiculed not only by fellow students, but by my teachers as well. You see, I went to a high school where the teachers were not like me. In my neighborhood I was regularly pulled over by the police, told to sit on the curb (sometimes handcuffed) and watched by one officer while another basically tore apart the car I was driving. Before I could drive, I was often stopped on the street while walking along minding my own business and called over to a passing police car. The officers would exit and tell me to assume the position with my hands on the hood of the car, feet spread, while they searched me for weapons and contraband. There were no programs for youth in my neighborhood, particularly any specifically designed to help a kid like me who was a racial minority in that neighborhood and therefore didn't really fit in with the goals of those programs that did exist. When I got out of high school, there were no scholarships available. You see, I had to go and hustle and get work to help support my then aging mother, so my job disqualified me for financial needs based scholarships or aid, and there were no scholarships available for people of my race. I know very well what it's like to grow up without privilege. I have lost a job and not gotten others (and not gotten a promotion) because of the color of my skin, and it's very frustrating. However, I have become relatively successful and I owe it all to the opportunities that this country has provided for me.

 

As others have said, this place is not perfect, I know this better than most people, but it's still the greatest country on earth. I am absolutely in favor of the rights of college students to peacefully protest. However, I don't think they should be disrespectful. I believe that kneeling during the national anthem is a way to purposely show disrespect in order to get a rise out of people. That accomplishes very little and is in reality more divisive at a time when we should be looking for ways to bring people together and make our great nation even greater. If a player has a philosophical or religious reason not to stand before the flag, I'm okay with that. However, I think teams should start to make accommodations for those players so that their opposition doesn't fly in the face of people who are not attempting to do them any harm; but are simply trying to show their love of this great country. I would have no problem with allowing players who just can't stand for the anthem to wait in the locker room until the anthem was over. That way they wouldn't be going against their consciences and at the same time wouldn't be offending others. Of course they wouldn't get the opportunity to be provocative, but perhaps during the national anthem isn't the best time to be provocative.

I have a hard time figuring out what to make of your post. The first half is much needed insight and perspective. The second half seems out of touch and tone deaf.

 

Here's the thing: Practically all forms of protest are "divisive" and/or "disrespectful". I keep hearing that all these things are divisive and we should be doing things to bring people together... OK well I'm all ears. This sh#t has been going on for a verrrry long time, and not being provocative doesn't really seem to accomplish anything.

 

The fact that there are people who get more outraged at someone kneeling during the national anthem then they do when people are needlessly killed is pretty f'ing sad. (Not saying this applies to you, just in general)

You can make whatever you want (or don't want). The first half of my post was meant to describe and explain the fact that my opinion on this matter is not reached because I have lived some life of privilege. The truth is exactly the opposite.

 

I would like to respectfully disagree with your reply. Protests can be done in many ways that are not divisive and not intended to be disrespectful. The people who are taking part in these protests are not helping anything. They are not promoting a productive discussion. This thread is a microcosm of what is happening in the national debate. People are insulting each other back-and-forth, there is no common ground being reached, no insight is achieved, no progress is made; the point they are trying to make is lost in their actions. To say that police abused of power is wrong, is an understatement. But those protests are not getting people to talk about police abuse. They are talking about the fact that these protesters are doing something to offend people who in many cases agree with their point. As I said, it's divisive and it really accomplishes nothing.

Well said California Husker. I agree that the current approach to protesting is creating more divisiveness rather than helping to spotlight whatever cause that is being supported.

 

 

Again, isn't it a bit weird that African-Americans are getting shot in front of their children with their hands up, and they have to worry about offending white people with their silent protests?

 

And again, you have a working model of the 20th century civil rights movement with all the proof you need that successful protests don't go the way the privileged would prefer.

 

Since you've written many posts suggesting you don't believe the cause is even valid, don't pretend you're merely arguing over the position of the spotlight.

 

I take it back; THIS is pretty much the definitive response to the issue.

[Swiv3D]

 

 

It's too bad the BLM movement is Marxist at its core, or else I might pay more attention to it.

I recently saw 90,000 people in a stadium chanting "Go Big Red!"

 

Who knew communism had gained such a foothold in America?

Funny yet ironic, the Des Moines Menace (semi-pro soccer team) has a cheer section called the "Red Army" and advertise by saying "join the red army".

[junior4949]

 

It's too bad the BLM movement is Marxist at its core, or else I might pay more attention to it.

 

I recently saw 90,000 people in a stadium chanting "Go Big Red!"

 

Who knew communism had gained such a foothold in America?

 

 

I would have thought the popularity of Bernie Sanders would have told you that.