Fire chief directs racial slur at Steelers coach over anthem protest

Are you for real with this?

I used to see myself as just "a person" and the kids at my high school as "people" who saw me as a loser nerd with anger issues first and a black kid second. It wasn't till I was an adult when I found other black nerds who told me they got ostracized by white kids for not fitting their narrow stereotypes (and anyone opening their mouth to bitch about "but black kids do it too" can get fucked with a cactus). Is is possible that Matt Solom my crush was put off by my as yet undiagnosed anxiety disorder? Sure. But being a black girl I got the "angry" label slapped on by default from society.

Many of us have been conditioned from a young age or learn by necessity that some shit will have to slide for the sake of our own sanity. I don't ever remember my mom sitting down with us to teach us about the right way to talk to cops because ours was a relatively safe town where we hardly ever came in contact with cops. But if we lived in the Deep South or an inner city like Oakland, not teaching that could get us killed. I've never been stopped by an officer in all my time driving but the last couple of years have made me far more wary than when I first started driving. And despite my clean record, i know if I got shot for reaching into my purse for my ID, the media would go digging to paint me as an angry black woman who had temper issues in high school and using the very choice language I had for the management of Kearny Mesa Acura when I left there as proof that "she was psycho, so she had to be put down."

Because Murica.

Oh, please.

The official religion of America is football, and the NFL knows it. At the end of the day loyalty to one's team will trump any fake anger on the behalf of the veterans. They'll be back.

More than likely. But ratings are down 11% and Trump isn't known to just let grudges go and he has a big microphone. There are stories about him still taunting and smearing reporters because they wrote an unflattering piece about him in the 1980's (30 years ago). If I was an owner or worked for the league I'd be asking my self why bring on trouble when you don't have to? I would be very tempted to simply say protest on your own time but at work do what is expected at work or find another job. After all they can always find another person willing to get paid millions to play a children's game.

Then there is the whole optics of multimillionaires whining and sniveling that America has been so unfair to them when many of them can't speak correct English and have minimal other job skills (which is why so many piss through their cash and end up bankrupt after retirement from sports).

Appreciated.

My opinion stems from being a trained musician (hey, I should work for Equifax! ), and I find our anthem to be musically unengaging, harmonically, melodically, and expressively.

http://www.oann.com/directv-allowing-nfl-sunday-ticket-refunds-after-protests-ratings-already-down/

Direct TV has had to change its policy and now will allow subscribers to cancel NFL Sunday ticket and receive a full refund. Previously, DTV simply said tough once you pay no refunds but so many people have complained they have now changed the policy.

Will it blow over? I suspect in time it probably will but if there is a daily reminder at every game? Yeah, that just might convince some people to stay away.

Thanks, Anna, for your thoughtful reply on what made you more racist today than you were as a kid. Maybe that makes it ok.

See, leaving that behind strikes me as the wrong way to discuss a political protest.

And just for the record, this is another one of those cases where the negative response to a SJW claim dispelled any possible doubt about the original claim's accuracy.

Yeah, "regardless of their motives" isn't a serious answer to "are you sure this was their only motive?"

If they did it against the wishes of the owner or the rules of the league, yes.

Then complain.

I wonder how many people would be upset if the players decided to draw Mohammed instead of taking a knee while the National Anthem played.

You didn't say "only motive," you said "intention (was) to offend." And that is the intention, otherwise, why do it?

The ends don't justify the means. Just because you suppose your motives are pure, showing disrespect is still showing disrespect.

The better question to ask is why the fuck should we as Americans have to censor ourselves because our President is a literal man child.

Fuck backing down. Like I said, football is a fucking religion, and the NFL will be around longer than Trump will be.

Except they can't.Not immediately. And these men train for years to get to the level they are today. The NFL knows a good chunk of their best players are POC and they'd be stupid to shit on their potential talent pool to massage the ego of Nixon 2.0

nearly every black person, regardless of class, wealthy, success, education level, and command of the English language has faced some level of discrimination and racism at some point in their lives. That's the damn point. The fact that people say Kap has no reason to be pissed because he got adopted into a middle class white family is the ironic acknowledgment that white privilege exists. And I know that I benefitted in my life by my proximity to whiteness, like going to a upper middle class white school that had actual programs and AP classes.

I had someone ask me in all seriousness if it "counted" that white people elected Obama into office. I told her that same group then elected our first White Supremacist President, so they can piss off with that shit.

Why would you think the intention was to offend? I am not offended and wouldn't be even if it was a message that I didn't agree with. I literally could not care less who sings our anthem and who doesn't any more than I care who celebrates Christmas. It just doesn't affect me. They didn't try to keep the anthem out of football...they didn't burn a flag...they just didn't actively participate in something they don't believe in. why do it? As a visible way of saying that no....we aren't all treated equally in this nation.

im not disrespected by an individual kneeling for the anthem.

What I found disrespectful was Trump--a four time draft dodger--pretending to give one solitary shit about our troops with this garbage when he waited nearly two days to address anything about the Fitzgerald incident--which, may I remind you, I served on--and the only thing he said about the McCain crash two months later was "Oh, that's too bad." I took offense to him blasting the family of a fallen soldier just because they were Muslims. I take offense that anyone, even in comparison to Hilary, could see this man as someone who will have the troops' best interests in mind.

Someone kneeling through the anthem is a far more peaceful protest than this clusterfuck administration deserves.

and more to the point, before 2009, the players didn't even take the field for the anthem. That only started when the military threw a bunch of money at the league to do some Support the Troops stuff.

damn - if we just elect a Democrat president next time (instead of that racist bigoted Trump) then everything will be Kosher with Anna. Things were going great under the prior Democratic presidency, then we as a nation had to fuck it up. Better luck next time!

Most presidents have their faults and nae sayers. It comes with the territory. No-one is ever going to be universally loved.

The issue is that this one has built up a monumental list of fuck ups, lies and broken promises and he's not even a year in.

perhaps because more eyes are upon him to fuck up? More eyes than would be on Obama for example? Just sayin'

It's unfortunate that it repositions the flag as some kind of avatar of suppression.

[And more than a bit entertaining that multi-millionaires present themselves as representative of the suppressed.]

Isn't it odd how, according to you, the blacks are never going to be satisfied with anything, so it's always pointless to take their complaints seriously? You think they'd occasionally have legitimate concerns, but somehow they never do... Isn't that weird how that happens? How nothing they say is ever worth addressing? It's downright peculiar.

Or maybe you're just an idiot.

By comparison, Bush didn't break into the 30 percent approval area until halfway into his second term.

FWIW

How A Texas Green Beret Helped The NFL’s National Anthem Protests Evolve

It's a political act taken in public under full view of audiences, and it's known by ALL to be a sign of disrespect.

Well, I and many other Americans do believe in this country. And if the players insist on showing their disdain for it, then it's my right to complain and demand better from the NFL and the owners.

They can go protest when they're not working.

Stolen from a respected friend's Facebook:

Athletes and celebrities are entitled to their opinion and to protest.

But they--like any employee--are not entitled to do that without limitation when on the job.

So...what? I'm not a person if I don't find it disrespectful?

Believe in it like you believe we are actually all equal in the eyes of the law? Or just believe that we've come a long way and it's an ideal worth fighting for? I don't take it as a fuck you, America! I take it as: hey fellow Americans - look how far we still have to go. The current reality is really messed up for a lot of us!

On this I think we can semi-agree. If you use the audience from your job to make your political stance, you have to deal with the consequences. It's a calculated risk whether you think you're irreplaceable enough to make your point on your employer's time.

This is what I don't get - Kapernick and all the other protesters have legitimate concerns - fair enough. So why do they have to choose the exact time the national anthem is being played to express these concerns? They can't do it right before halftime? As the game has fifteen seconds left? I mean damn - any other time than during the anthem would still get everyone's attention without making them look like dicks. Just sayin'

I have zero problem with Colin Kaepernick (or anyone else) engaging in peaceful protest of racism and incidents of police brutality in the United States (or for any other cause). How we treat speech we don't like or agree with is an indicator of how healthy we are as a free society. That said, lets all remember that the First Amendment protects you from retribution from the government, not private businesses or individuals. If I did something that angered a large percentage of my customer base (such as marching with the Nazi's in Charlottesville), I'm sure there would be repercussions at work.

The people that want to turn this into a flag and veteran issue are merely deflecting the point and trying to control the conversation. Don't let them.

That is kind of lame. I certainly don't engage in my pet protests on company time. No one has said they can't do what ever they like on their own time.

Maybe for the NFL players, but if you haven't heard people suggest that actors, singers, etc stay out of politics and "stick to" their profession you haven't been paying attention.