I Want A Thank You
News brings word that one of the hyper-violent meat-heads the NFL hires to entertain us on fall weekends is making a nuisance of himself over the custom of playing the National Anthem before games.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has willingly immersed himself into controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States.
His latest refusal to stand for the anthem — he has done this in at least one other preseason game — came before the 49ers’ preseason loss to Green Bay at Levi’s Stadium on Friday night.
“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.”
Kaepernick was born to a destitute black white mother¹ in Milwaukee, who put him up for adoption. His father was a deadbeat from the neighborhood. In other words, he was born into the typical black environment, but unlike most black children, he was saved by a nice white couple who adopted him and raised him as their son. This got him into good schools, sports and a middle-class lifestyle. Later, nice white coaches helped him with his sports career, first at college and then in the NFL. Jim Harbaugh made Kaepernick a legitimate NFL player.
Kaepernick has decided to respond to this amazing run of good fortune, almost exclusively the result of generous white Americans, by giving his middle finger to his fellow Americans. Specifically, he is his flipping the bird to white people so he can pretend to make common cause with the black people from whom he was saved as a baby. You would think that someone living this wonderful life would be grateful to the country and the people who make it possible, but that’s not how things work in a grievance culture.
The 49ers issued a statement about Kaepernick’s decision: “The national anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.”
There are people paid lots of money to come up with statements like this. They sound pleasant, but say nothing. Exactly no one is saying this guy should be forced to stand during the anthem. No one thinks he should be barred from staying these stupid and nasty things about his countrymen. It’s a another way to shift the focus from the front lash to the backlash. Let’s not notice that Kaepernick is an ungrateful d-bag. No, let’s fret over some imaginary people who seek to oppress the ungrateful d-bag.
The people in charge think this type of response is safe and they may be right. To come out and say, “Our player is an ungrateful, spoiled meat head with the IQ of a goldfish” would be accurate, but probably cause more trouble than it is worth. Everyone would know it is true, but everyone also knows you can never say anything bad about the black guy in these cases. To do so gets every bean pie eating black media guy howling for your head, calling you a bigot.
No, the honkies are expected to just wait it out. Eventually, Kaepernick will have his big interview where the black interviewer will yuck up it up with him, cause you know, they’re brothers in the struggle and all that. This is why TV networks hire guys like Steve A. Smith. These two-person performances are intended to send a message to the honkies at home. “See, we can be reasonable, but we can also be unreasonable so you get to choose. Either go along with what we reasonably demand or else.”
Like a lot of people, I suspect, I’m going with “or else” this time. Bring it on. Black people have some legitimate complaints, but they need to be directed at their fellow blacks. Whites in America have been incredibly generous and accommodating to blacks over the last half century. It has not been perfect, it never is, but there’s nowhere on earth you would rather be black than in America. There’s a reason the Back To Africa Movement has no members. I don’t want to hear any more complaining. I want a thank you.
¹I mistakenly thought his birth mother was black.
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