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minoanmissUgh. I should not read things that I know will upset me at night. I get much more upset at night.
The article I read on th bus just now was "Trump's gut knows that America agrees with him on NFL controversy" which is both right -- the majority of America does agree, for various reasons including that humans have a tendency to set ritual as more important than actual people -- and wrong -- just because a majority of Americans think Black people should silently accept being second class citizens and deserve to be brutalized and killed at the whim of the police doesn't mean we are, we should, or we do.
Oh, I could write a point-by-point rebuttal if I let myself. (The bit about football players making so much money, as if any amount of money can render one not Black! The bit about "a CNN/ORC poll taken in the last months of Barack Obama's presidency showed that most Americans believed racial tensions had already worsened during his tenure."when this is because so many Americans didn't have to confront racism's existence until people emboldened by Obama's presidency started speaking up.) I suppose I should thank him for reminding me how many of my fellow Americans hate me and my fellow Black Americans. As if I needed the reminder.
Ugh. I have been restraining myself on this topic for months, not least since Mr. Kaepernick's birth mother used the controversy to make a quick buck and to condemn Black people such as , presumably, the man who fathered Mr. Kaepernick with her. I'm really glad of his adoptive mother who supports him to the point of snarking that apparently if the President calls her son a son of a bitch that makes her a proud bitch.
UGH. This is more than I ever want to think about football -- my usual opinion of football is that I try to ignore it as much as possible -- it causes traumatic brain injury and is thus bad for people, to say nothing of might-makes-right, boys-will-be-boys, rape-condoning sports culture, but Americans love their sports and do not care. It was pretty telling in that article when it author quoted the most common reason that fans reported for a decrease in interest in the NFL in recent years was not concussions or violence, but political issues." Who cares about brain injury! How dare these Black players actually have opinions about their lives in this country instead of just performing for the real Americans' entertainment! Ugh, I feel sick.
ANYWAY. I should gather up my rage and turn it into supportive letters. The Dallas Cowboys owner knelt with his players. I hope Mr. Kaepernick still dares have a fanmail address because I want to send him these lines from Dr. King's favorite hymn:
Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
Speaking of Dr. King, I need to remember that in his day vast swathes of America hated him -- they called him a Black Hitler, they said he wanted to overthrow the natural order -- and that the well heeled nimnul who wrote this article is just continuing in that tradition and will, if we aren't at the end of history, one day be recognized as being on the wrong side of history.
Ugh. Now maybe I can think about other things. Puerto RIco is utterly devastated, the President wants to get us into a nuclear war, and the NYT has reported that that efforts to get women into STEM have "gone too far" and lent its platform to those who opine that women are biologically unsuited for STEM fields. To say nothing of the latest version of Trumpcare or so much else. There's a hell of a lot of politics to deal with and I only have so much sanity with which to do so.
The article I read on th bus just now was "Trump's gut knows that America agrees with him on NFL controversy" which is both right -- the majority of America does agree, for various reasons including that humans have a tendency to set ritual as more important than actual people -- and wrong -- just because a majority of Americans think Black people should silently accept being second class citizens and deserve to be brutalized and killed at the whim of the police doesn't mean we are, we should, or we do.
Oh, I could write a point-by-point rebuttal if I let myself. (The bit about football players making so much money, as if any amount of money can render one not Black! The bit about "a CNN/ORC poll taken in the last months of Barack Obama's presidency showed that most Americans believed racial tensions had already worsened during his tenure."when this is because so many Americans didn't have to confront racism's existence until people emboldened by Obama's presidency started speaking up.) I suppose I should thank him for reminding me how many of my fellow Americans hate me and my fellow Black Americans. As if I needed the reminder.
Ugh. I have been restraining myself on this topic for months, not least since Mr. Kaepernick's birth mother used the controversy to make a quick buck and to condemn Black people such as , presumably, the man who fathered Mr. Kaepernick with her. I'm really glad of his adoptive mother who supports him to the point of snarking that apparently if the President calls her son a son of a bitch that makes her a proud bitch.
UGH. This is more than I ever want to think about football -- my usual opinion of football is that I try to ignore it as much as possible -- it causes traumatic brain injury and is thus bad for people, to say nothing of might-makes-right, boys-will-be-boys, rape-condoning sports culture, but Americans love their sports and do not care. It was pretty telling in that article when it author quoted the most common reason that fans reported for a decrease in interest in the NFL in recent years was not concussions or violence, but political issues." Who cares about brain injury! How dare these Black players actually have opinions about their lives in this country instead of just performing for the real Americans' entertainment! Ugh, I feel sick.
ANYWAY. I should gather up my rage and turn it into supportive letters. The Dallas Cowboys owner knelt with his players. I hope Mr. Kaepernick still dares have a fanmail address because I want to send him these lines from Dr. King's favorite hymn:
Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
Speaking of Dr. King, I need to remember that in his day vast swathes of America hated him -- they called him a Black Hitler, they said he wanted to overthrow the natural order -- and that the well heeled nimnul who wrote this article is just continuing in that tradition and will, if we aren't at the end of history, one day be recognized as being on the wrong side of history.
Ugh. Now maybe I can think about other things. Puerto RIco is utterly devastated, the President wants to get us into a nuclear war, and the NYT has reported that that efforts to get women into STEM have "gone too far" and lent its platform to those who opine that women are biologically unsuited for STEM fields. To say nothing of the latest version of Trumpcare or so much else. There's a hell of a lot of politics to deal with and I only have so much sanity with which to do so.
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no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 05:41 am (UTC)I was once a pretty big NFL fan, and then I stopped wztching, not because of CTE, but because it seemed pretty clear that, often, people who are trained to respond violently in their work life will respond violenty at other times, as well. This was pre-Ray Rice video, and I still kind of miss it, but, just, no. Especially no, given the CTE. I don't need to be complicit.
Anyway, you mentioned it, but the thing I kept encountering on Twitter in the past week that really torked me off is all the people saying that black athletes (and Stevie Wonder, who also took a knee) shouldn't protest, because they make millions, so they're "ungrateful" if they do. As if someone -- white America, presumably -- gave them their success out of pure largesse, rather than their working *incredibly* hard, and being independent, thinking, considering adults. It's amazingly insulting.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 11:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 04:21 pm (UTC)The flag is a symbol. The Constitution is the embodiment of our nation's existence.
Which disrespect is the greatest threat to our nation?
Also, I have hated professional football since childhood, having been knocked across the room on many occasions as a child for the crime of inadvertently walking between my father and the television during one of the thousands of games he watched on TV. I learned early that I mattered far less than a bunch of guys running after a ball on television.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 06:34 pm (UTC)The text of his speech is also at that site.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-27 04:01 am (UTC)I pledge allegiance to the Constitutions of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
Ann O.