With the football season supposedly starting on time and with the protests, I have been reading a lot about players kneeling and if coaches are okay with that, here are my thoughts….
Again, I am not black. I don’t know how it feels to be black and I am sure I don’t want to know what it feels to be looked upon because of my skin color. I do believe in white privilege, just look at history. I don’t have any black friends, but I really don’t have any friends (will be a different blog), I know black people, I interact with black people. Do I feel biased toward them as a white person, No. I judge people individually on how they treat me, doesn’t matter the color of their skin. If I was in a not desirable neighborhood could I feel biased if a group of black men are walking toward me, yes, but I would feel the same if a group or white, asian, hispanic or a mixture of skin colors.
But my logical brain is having a really hard one with the protests. I understand what they are protesting, but it is not the normal everyday white person targeting black people and 99.5% of cops are not targeting black people. They are protesting to a very few people. Now, if there is a bigger issue that is out there, they are doing a horrible job getting that out there. I have a Masters degree and all I can tell is they are protesting policy brutality. So, why not go to the police station, not burn the police station, but talk to the captains, sergeants and see how they can work together. The cop that killed George Floyd is a totally scumbag, there was no need to be on him for more than 30 secs, if he felt in the moment Floyd was resisting, especially with 3 other cops to help. I have watched enough Live PD to know how the cops take down people.
Now to kneeling, America is the greatest and weirdest country in one, but we are hypocrites. We tell other countries to let their people do what they want, but then we tell our citizens that they are disrespecting our country by using their rights. There is nothing in the Constitution that says you have to do anything for the National Anthem and unless you go to a sporting event, when was the last time you sang it or stood for it. Do you sing and stand up every morning when you get up, at work, before you go to bed, HELL NO you don’t. So if this is something you hold in such high regard, why don’t you do it everyday? I pray everyday and try to read the Bible, but do I think about the flag or anthem, no. Do I respect the people who died and still protect my rights to pretty much do whatever I want without any worry of imprisonment, HELL YES. To me, not using my rights as a citizen disrespects the men and women who have served, more than anything. Football is one of the top things people pay attention to, so if players feel they can voice their frustration or get a issue on everyone’s mind go for it. Kneeling is not disrespectful to the flag or service members, we kneel to pray. If they were turning their backs and flipping off the flag, sure then let’s have a conversation, but even so, here in America that is freedom we enjoy.
So let people peacefully protest a way they like. Let’s keep violence out of this and how about people that can make a change on both sides, yes both sides need to make changes, get together to work on the relationship between the police and community. I grew up in a town of about 25k, 97% white, I live in a upper class neighborhood now. My only dealing with police have been, Minor in Possession of Alcohol when I was 19 and 2 speeding tickets, last one being 20 years ago. We have a sheriff drive through my neighborhood every once and while, because they are bored. Last time they came for something major, was a house party a year ago. I know other neighborhoods, have police everyday. Think rationally and logically abut this, why would they be there? Because it is a black neighborhood or because that is where the majority of crime happens? Now, if you want to get into inequality, that is a totally relevant topic that is at the core to these issues. Looking at this logically, the police don’t target black people, but neighborhoods with crime, data seems to suggest that it is usually black neighborhoods, which is far, but there is not need for police to go to non crime areas. I said it earlier, police need to work with the community, not just police it, but the people of the community need to step up and take their community back and not let crime run amuck. Politicians need to get off their asses and get businesses to invest in the people of these communities and get good paying jobs, so that people are not out being violent for money. That is where this starts and stops.
Let’s get this figured out, Vote 2020, don’t care for who, there are better choices, just Vote.
-AD