First. Whether your social media posts can affect your employment is between you and your employer (and if applicable, the law). There is no 'one size fits all.' Don't take a job that connects what you do off the clock, with your employment, if your main thing in life is to make provocative posts on twitter. Second. Those that kneel clearly stated they do not intend to disrespect anyone. Just because you said it's disrespectful, doesn't mean it's disrespectful. If I ever intend to disrespect you, I certainly will admit to it. I certainly wouldn't want you to be confused about it. That's how disrespect works. It doesn't really work when I kneel before you, in order to disrespect you, but tell you, "I'm just kneeling; I mean no disrespect." Religious people kneel in churches as a show of respect. Kneeling, throughout history, has always meant respect or reverence. The man who started the movement was advised by a vet to kneel instead of sitting. Calling it 'disrespectful' is pretext to allow you, and others like you, to have a "reason" to attack it, and distract from the reason they kneel. Let me know when you're ready to debate the issues surrounding why they are kneeling; instead of the false narrative that kneeling suddenly became disrespectful. How's that campaign to vilify people protesting police brutality been working out for you?
You spent three agonizing paragraphs to tell us you're not racist bc you have black friends. The dude should be gone and you're a POS. There, you're cancelled. Jag.
Rather than address the reasons why they kneel or that the idea to kneel came from a Green Beret (isn't that a soldier?)..... the right wants to act indignant about the kneeling.... So if they stand up you suddenly going to end racism because it was all about the kneeling? If they did not kneel, the announcer would never have used that slur or though it, he is innoncent.. it was the kneel that provoked him. Black people were hung from trees, beaten up and hosed down when they protested, still get mistreated but you are all outraged at the kneeling... because when they shut up and obey, then you can ignore the problem. I rarely saw any large scale protests or indignation when Blacks were treated like dogs but the kneel is what gets you all upset haha....
I'll go with what the majority of veterans and the leading organizations which represent them are saying... VFW, American Legion: NFL protests disrespectful to vets; others disagree https://www.stripes.com/news/us/vfw...isrespectful-to-vets-others-disagree-1.489529 Top veterans organizations jumped into the fray this week over whether National Football League players sitting or kneeling during the national anthem is an affront to patriotism, “disrespecting” active-duty and former servicemembers. Fueling the controversy were tweets from President Donald Trump insulting protesting players and calling for them to be fired. At the core of the debate: Should highly paid athletes use their positions to highlight social issues, or are those actions during the national anthem misguided? “There is a time and place for civil debate, and wearing team jerseys and using sporting events to disrespect our country doesn’t wash with millions of military veterans who have and continue to wear real uniforms on real battlefields around the globe,” said Keith Harman, a Vietnam veteran who heads the 1.7 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars. “I stand for our flag and anthem, and I kneel for our fallen. That’s what patriots do.” American Legion Commander Denise Rohan called the players “misguided and ungrateful.” (More at above url)
The people pushing kneeling for the national anthem should recognize that it is divisive and really will not rally the majority of people to rally to their cause. Particularly if it offends many military veterans and active service members. There are alternate methods of protesting and building awareness at sporting events that will rally more people to their cause (which is meaningful) -- rather than just ignoring it or dismissing it. They should explore better and alternative message methods and build a collective campaign of messaging from their teams - encompassing events, player participation in the community, media, and social media. This also gets back to the questions of why the U.S. has a historical tradition of playing the national anthem at sporting events at all levels (high school, college, professional, etc.). An easy fix for the entire problem is simply don't play the national anthem at sporting events.
An easy fix is for the police to stop brutalizing citizens unnecessarily. But I get it. You'd rather discuss kneeling, and the playing of the anthem, and anything else but the root of the problem. I've addressed the other concerns here: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...-f-cking-n-iggers.356872/page-12#post-5344633
I need to disagree with you on this because I am a veteran and from 4 generation of military family. In addition, many of the military veterans that I know and friends with...they also will disagree with you. Sure there's other alternative methods but they've been used and ignored. Regardless, others are in fact using other alternative methods of building awareness about inequality even without protesting. Yet, keep in mind, these are teenage girls whom most likely do not have access nor require to have access to alternative methods. Also, the legality of the issue outweighs the traditions, behavior of National Anthems at sporting events nor does it merit having racial slurs hurled at them when they know for fact that their country does not support them...yet they do know the courts are on their side. I posted a message post last year about why / when the National Anthem became a "tradition" at sporting events...specifically started at baseball games. National Anthem (The Star-Spangle Banner) is a song (a poem called The Defence of Fort M’Henry) about a battle in the War of 1812. The first documented time that it was played at an American sporting event came at a baseball game in 1862, during the Civil War. The tradition of playing it at sports events got a dramatic boost at the 1918 World Series, during World War I. https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...layed-mark-cuban-colin-kaepernick/6702871002/ https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/07/8-things-dont-know-star-spangled-banner/ (read #4 at this link...it will explain Flag Burning / Vietnam war mentioned below. Also, read #5 involving the word "slave" in the original poem...a verse that remained in the singing in the early years of using it at sporting events...writer of the poem is a slave owner) Simply, there are strong valid reasons why people of color will have issues with the National Anthem. Ironically, sporting events in the South were intentionally slow to adopt the National Anthem being played at sporting events...there were incidents of some White southerners "turning their back" on the United States Flag as a form of protest during the singing of The Star-Spangle Banner because they did not like the fact that people of color were playing in the game. To prevent the controversy, I do remember in high school in the 80's...the National Anthem was no longer being played at some sport events (Kentucky, South Dakota, Illinois) and at some University sport events. Today, some professional sport teams no longer play the National Anthem (e.g. Dallas Mavericks Professional Basketball Team at their home games) By the way, for what its worth, a few of the girls on the team has veterans as parents. Here's my perspective via starting with a quote (legal statement)... Since 1998, federal law (viz., the United States Code 36 U.S.C. § 301) states that during a rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present including those in uniform should stand at attention; non-military service individuals should face the flag with the right hand over the heart; members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present and not in uniform may render the military salute; military service persons not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note. The law further provides that when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed. Military law requires all vehicles on the installation to stop when the song is played and all individuals outside to stand at attention and face the direction of the music and either salute, in uniform, or place the right hand over the heart, if out of uniform. The law was amended in 2008, and since allows military veterans to salute out of uniform, as well.[73][74] The text of 36 U.S.C. § 301 is suggestive and not regulatory in nature. Failure to follow the suggestions is not a violation of the law. This behavioral requirement for the national anthem is subject to the same First Amendment controversies that surround the Pledge of Allegiance.[75] For example, Jehovah's Witnesses do not sing the national anthem, though they are taught that standing is an "ethical decision" that individual believers must make based on their conscience. ------- I am a former officer in the United States Armed Forces...seeing people express their First Amendment right via kneeling doesn't bother me nor anyone in my family of a 4 generation military family that has fought in all the United States wars / conflicts since the early 1900's. Just the same, it doesn't bother me when I see countless more individuals in the stands at sporting events not with their right hand over their heart during the National Anthem and others sitting down because they don't care to stand but not in protest. I understand the actual reason / original reason for kneeling...people of all race in America are kneeling to protest racial inequality and the oppression of people of color in America. My father (an Army Officer and Indigenous) answer my question when I was a kid about why are people burning the flag in protest of the Vietnam war while we were visiting grandma in South Dakota. The first sentence in his explanation was that he does not like it but if the flag is privately owned...its their First Amendment right to do whatever they want with the flag in support or protest. He stated this to me when I was a kid many years early before the Supreme Court decided in 1989 that flag burning is considered a type of protected free speech under the First Amendment. The act is considered offensive by many, but flag burning is legal in the U.S. under Supreme Court rulings that it is constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment. We moved around a lot and I saw burning the U.S. flag while attending schools for kids of Military personnel in the United States and abroad in other countries. Just the same, I have always been proud to stand up, with my right hand over my heart to sing loudly the National Anthem (The Star-Spangle Banner). My family think flag burning is disrespectful but we understand its protected under the First Amendment. The issue with flag burning is because we saw people do it in anger and during violent protesting. I brought flag burning into this discussion because its a form of protest that has been used in violent protesting to contrast kneeling because kneeling is a non-violent form of protest to bring awareness. The context, the high school basketball game was not a form of violent protest and the girls kneeling is exercising their First Amendment although many consider it in error to be disrespectful to the United States Armed Forces. In the eyes of state courts...kneeling is not disrespectful nor consider as "fighting words". In contrast, racial slurs is consider in state courts in the state of Oklahoma to be fighting words, racial epithets, ethnic slurs...most businesses will fire an employee for such in Oklahoma and just about every other state of the United States. That announcer, the state high school association has already stated in the article on ESPN that he (his business) will no longer be used for the remainder of the state tournament. Simply, he has in fact been fired. The question now...will the families of the girls that the racial slurs were aimed at...will they litigate the issue (file a lawsuit) against the announcer and his business. Personally, I hope they do litigate the issue considering the context of the specific situation especially the fact that he did not aim his racial slurs at the other White players for kneeling nor did he make any derogatory comments towards the other White players for kneeling beyond saying he hopes the team losses the game. Lawsuit (litigation) is an alternative method of bringing awareness to inequality involving the National Anthem. There are other sports announcement businesses in Oklahoma looking for work / contracts with sports associations. That sports announcer should not be one of them and has already lost his contract with the state high school association. With all that said, hurling racial slurs because he can't control his emotions at teenage girls is just bullshit. That idiot sports announcer should lose the remainder of his contract with the OHSAA. Oh wait, he did lose the contract. wrbtrader
You claim that the only way of bringing attention to the cause of racial justice is by offending a large portion of the audience. Sadly some "advocates" are more into shocking people than actually desiring to make progress in social justice. They view that upsetting and unsettling people is more important than rallying them to your cause. Of course, these are the same "progressives" who view everyone who disagrees with them on the slightest issue as "nazis" who should be cancelled. Unfortunately this type of mindset is exactly why no real progress is being made on addressing social justice issues.