This question was posed on FB; If Tom Brady took a knee during the national anthem in protest to the lack of proper sentencing of rapists, would he be un-American? I replied that I would support that completely, since he’s exercising his rights. A right that we all possess thanks to the lovely first amendment! Part of the amendment states that we have a right to protest peacefully. I don’t know of a more peaceful way to protest! Do you?
The "patriotic" posters felt it would still be disrespectful to those who have fought for our freedoms. Okay, fine. I understand how you would feel like that. What I don't agree with is calling someone an idiot or un-American for exercising their rights. Kaepernick's act is the very definition of what it means to be an American. Being able to silently protest is EXACTLY what we fought for! One of the most amazing things about this country is the fact that we have so many civil liberties. Protesting is one of the most effective acts for change. Think back to the protests of the 1960’s. Rosa Parks sat on the back of a bus, quietly. Her act of defiance spoke volumes. Do you remember learning about the lunch sit-in protest? They sat there and took all the spit, the cussing, and threats. I don’t know how they did it. I think I would’ve broke and ended up in jail because I clocked some ignorant fool in his or her throat.
Please, sit down and shut up if you're about to tell me how your brother or whomever fought for your freedoms. I, too, have family who in the recent past served bravely in our military overseas. I thank them all for their sacrifice. I have the greatest respect for our military, past and present. Much like I've seen a few writers question, how did my freedoms end up in Iraq and Afghanistan? Nu uh, that fight wasn't about our freedoms. That was straight-up revenge. I want you to check out Jim Wright's article about this very subject. I digress though.
Trying to tell me that I'm a sheep being tricked into divisive thinking when I support Black Lives Matter (BLM) is just another way to make us all feel like we're the problem. When, actually, there wouldn't be such divisiveness if these police would stop the mentality of "shoot first, ask questions later ". Creating a full-on campaign of making anybody believe that the BLM movement is a hate group is just another tactic to keep people quiet.
Ever since I have been awakened to modern-day racism, I have had nothing but support and appreciation for finally understanding what they've been dealing with. Please, do everyone a solid and learn about systemic racism. Learn about the cycle of poverty. I don’t want to hear another person talk about how the “hood” needs to clean itself up if there’s to be any true change. Um, okay, sure helping our communities improve is a great idea! However, why is it the only people you see actually doing that are the people who live there? It takes all of us, honey. Also, explain to me why police continually harasses Senator Tim Scott, if it’s a poverty and “hood” issue?
Why is it so many are up in arms about Colin’s protest and claiming that he’s being disrespectful to our country, yet those very same people are typically the same ones spewing such nastiness against our President? The Dixie Chicks protested President Bush and they were basically kicked off radio and out of country music. The reason? Because they disrespected our country. Huh? Really? Oddly enough, it is now common place to do just that against Obama. If you even attempt to claim their hate for him is because he’s black, they say they just don’t agree with his policies. Uh huh…sure. I didn’t see the same kind of hate mongering against Bush as I do for Obama. Honestly, I was against several of Obama’s choices too. However, I have seen a lot of good come out of his time in office. He’s actually one of the coolest guys to have been in there!
So, the whole post ended back to racism and somebody actually said that people have the right to be racists. Are you fucking kidding me? Following that thought process; you might as well say it's okay for people to be attracted to little kids or to believe that women are lesser beings that should obey everything man tells them to do! My response wasn't the kindest or most thought out that it probably should have been, but can you blame me for firing off?
At the end of it all, I was told that I'm the problem for being blindly devoted to the cause of BLM. Let me clear this up. Blind? No, these eyes are wide open and ya damn skippy I'm devoted to social injustices!! Guess what? I don't only support their movement, but also that of the LGBT community, the feminists, and anybody else who thinks we should be out here loving on people!! There is just way too much hate. Carry love around and sprinkle that shit everywhere.
