Kneeling for Justice

This past week in the NFL has proved to be one of the toughest in its history, and it has got plenty of people talking.

A quick recap. Last week the dunce-brained hate chimp (you know the one) made comments in front of a rally in Alabama that stated that NFL owners should fire any "son of a b*tch" that takes a knee during the national anthem. 

This ended up falling back on him big time. Nearly all, if not all, of the NFL owners came out in defence of their players, as did NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming that these comments were "divisive" and showed a "lack of respect" for the NFL, coaches and players.

So, over the weekend, the NFL came together in a strong sign of unity against these comments, and many other reasons. Some linked arms. Some knelt. Some held their hand up, clenched, resembling the black power salute from the '68 Olympics. Some remained in their locker rooms. And some sang the national anthem. All are appropriate reactions. None are wrong.

But in a land that screams from the top of it's voice about freedom of speech, no matter the message, the stance that the NFL's players are taking isn't acceptable to them. It's as if freedom of speech is fine, even if it's shouting expletives at minority groups, but the minute that speech goes against what they believe, then they can't stand it. 

I think there is a misunderstanding, deliberate or not, for the reasons for this protest. It is obviously an immediate reaction to the furious wotsit's ridiculous comments (doesn't he have anything better to do?), but it is a statement against injustice and inequality in America, and more specifically against black people and poverty.

Colin Kaepernick (above) began this movement over a year ago. Back then he was the only one doing this. He knelt for the reasons below:

But this statement seems to have been hijacked by people claiming it is disrespectful to not stand and sing the national anthem. It is disrespectful to the flag. It is disrespectful to those who have died on military service. It would be, if THAT was the reason they were protesting. It's a way of distracting from the real reason for their protest. Protesting the social injustice and inequality. 

And the way they're doing it? Perfect. You can argue they could do it at another time. But this is the best time to do it. In front of everyone, in the stadium and sat on their arses at home (probably not standing for the anthem either), they are able to make a national, if not international, message that will get their point across. And you know what? It's f*cking worked.

"They shouldn't do it while they are working!"

It's done before the game. Doesn't affect any of their work. They go out there and play, but this is the most perfect simple way of getting their point across. And, once again, it's not disrespecting the flag or the military. 

Several army veterans have come out and said that they agree with the kneeling protest, as it is what they fought for. For people to have the right to freedom of speech. This includes current Pittsburgh Steelers player and former army ranger, Alejandro Villanueva. Villanueva, who served three tours of Afghanistan, has said that he would fully back any teammate on any decision they would make; whether it was to stand, sit or kneel. Even these people realise that there is more to this than a flag.

It doesn't matter if these players are rich now or not. They haven't been given this chance to play in the NFL. They've earned it. Every single one of those players, no matter their background, have worked their butts off to get to where they are. They are self-made men. 

Many of them, as Hard Knocks with the Buccaneers showed, have come from poverty-ridden backgrounds, and are no doubt due to the social injustice and inequality that is still in America.

Some of them are still suffering these injustices. Michael Bennett, of the Seattle Seahawks, was held at gunpoint by police in Las Vegas for "simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"A police officer order me to get on the ground. As I laid on the ground, complying with his demands to not move, he placed his gun near my head and warned me that if I moved he would blow me f***ing head off."

Why can't the man with a head like a sunburned Pac-Man focus on the issues that are being protested against, rather than lambaste the people wanting to make a difference. I wish to bring you back to his comment at the top of this, when he said that these people taking part in a silent protest are "sons of b*tches", but the white supremacists' violent protests in Charlottesville had "some very fine people".

Why do people continue to back this skid mark on the underwear of humanity?


Clearly, why would they stand for America if they don't believe America stands for them?

What do you think? Comment and share.

You can read my other blogs at FeedTheSport and ScriptEye here.