Anti-police brutality protests and statements in American sports currently

Submitted by Juan Conatz on September 22, 2016

Thought this deserved a thread since its been at the top of the news here in the U.S. for about 2 months now. For sure the most that American sports and statements against racial inequality have been linked together since the 1960s or 1970s.

It started on August 26th with Colin Kaepernick, back-up quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, sitting during the national anthem before a preseason game with the Green Bay Packers. After the game he told the media:

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

A couple of days later he came to a press conference with a Malcolm X hat and a t-shirt with images of the time Fidel Castro and Malcolm X met.

The next game, Kaepernick took a knee instead during the anthem, after talking to a NFL player who is a military veteran. A 49ers player joined him. A player on the opposing team, the Seattle Seahawks, sat for the anthem.

Before the game, Kaepernick wore some socks during practice that got a lot of people's attention...

Gonna update this post with more examples of these national anthem protests when I have time..

jesuithitsquad

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on September 22, 2016

It's pretty hilarious watching people tie themselves into knots condemning Kaepernick whilst simultaneously praising Muhammad Ali (as if they wouldn't have been amongst those refusing to refer to him as anything but Cassius Clay had they been alive at the time.)

I think it's really telling that one can predict with a high level of accuracy whether or not a person will support or condemn this form of protest simply by knowing the race of the respondent. Which obviously is not to say, 'all white people . . .' but it really does show how wide the divide is in the parallel universe in which average white americans live.

You can see the same conversation taking place in coverage of the various urban protests following a police-commited murder. 'I know people are hurting but this violence,' etc. It's very disturbing when folks are 'shaken to the core' by a few broken windows, but not by the rampant extra-judicial killings by the State's security apparatus.

jesuithitsquad

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on September 22, 2016

One other comment/question: the way I understood the initial Kaepernick story is that he didn't make a public statement beforehand, and that his protest was only noticed after the fact. Does anyone know if this is accurate? If so, it increases my respect for Kaepernick--despite his apparently unfortunate Maoism. I mean, it's sometimes hard not to question the motives of celebrities, so it's kind of cool if he initially wasn't trying to make a publicity splash.

Fleur

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Fleur on September 23, 2016

The way I understand it is that Kaepernick had been quietly sitting through the national anthem for a while before it was picked up in the media, after which he switched to taking a knee instead of sitting.

jesuithitsquad

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on September 25, 2016

That's how I understood it too, but I was too lazy to look it up---thanks!

jef costello

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on September 25, 2016

The next week :
Three players, 49ers team-mate Eric Reid, Denver Bronco Brandon Marshall and Seattle Seahawk Jeremy Lane, have joined Kaeperkick in refusing to stand for the anthem, along with women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe.

AFAIK Rapinoe has continued

Interesting article about police brutality.

Football players for Michigan and Michigan State along with a group of students at North Carolina raised their fists during the national anthem Saturday.
Three Michigan State players – Delton Williams, Kenney Lyke and Gabe Sherrod – held their right fists in the air while standing on the sideline
Before North Carolina hosted Pittsburgh, students wearing black shirts remained seated with fists raised. Some 60 to 70 black and white students participated.

Seahawks Corner Back Jeremy Lane took a knee during the anthem at a preseason game in solidarity with Kaepernick,

The Seahawks have started doing a linked-arms 'unity protest' that I am not too sure about but got a pretty vitriolic denunciation here.

Chilli Sauce

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Chilli Sauce on September 25, 2016

This Megan Rapinoe cat seems pretty awesome:

“I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.”

She's gay which explains the first line in her statement and she's also one of the women's soccer players filing a pay inequality suit against their employer.

Chilli Sauce

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Chilli Sauce on September 25, 2016

If so, it increases my respect for Kaepernick--despite his apparently unfortunate Maoism.

Apparently he is (or at least was) pretty religious - Bible verse tattoos and stuff according to his Wikipedia page.

petey

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by petey on September 25, 2016

"respect the flag" is just the sort of rhetoric that was used to shut down speech during the iraq invasion ("support the troops").

jesuithitsquad

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on September 26, 2016

petey

"respect the flag" is just the sort of rhetoric that was used to shut down speech during the iraq invasion ("support the troops").

Good point--it's kinda easy in the current political environment to forget just how dark those days early in the war were.

jef costello

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on September 26, 2016

jesuithitsquad

petey

"respect the flag" is just the sort of rhetoric that was used to shut down speech during the iraq invasion ("support the troops").

Good point--it's kinda easy in the current political environment to forget just how dark those days early in the war were.

The respect the flag stuff is pretty extreme, Kaepernick didn't stand for god bless america either but he did stand for the veterans appreciation wave or whatever it was.
I remember trying to argue that 'supporting the troops' meant not sending them off to die quite a lot.

I also remember after Septembr 11th any public figure who wanted to criticise Bush in any way had to condemn terrorism and the attacks before starting speaking.

nization

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by nization on September 26, 2016

Not trying to downplay the importance of such events at all, but it might be worth keeping in mind that arguably the greatest statement against racial inequality in the U. S. ever linked to a sporting event, -Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising of their fists in black gloves on the Olympic podium in Mexico 1968- took place just two weeks after a State massacre of over 300 students, some of whom protested the celebration of the Olympics themselves as an event meant to forestall the revolutionary climate gathering in Mexico. Which goes to show that a protest against racial inequality (full of nasty and lasting consequences for those two men) may be completely devoid of any internationalist content whatsoever. In fact, the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) an American organization established by sociologist Harry Edwards and others, had initially intended to boycott the Games. Only Kareem Abdul Jabbar refused to take part in the 68 Olympics.

elraval2

7 years 6 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by elraval2 on September 28, 2016

Spanish press reporting another fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by police in US.

http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2016/09/28/actualidad/1475050931_142010.html

Video in English.

jesuithitsquad

7 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on October 28, 2016

I've seen quite a few things on twitter recently pointing out the irony of jocks being socially- politically aware and active, while a surprising number of computer nerds are trending toward fascism.

nization

7 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by nization on October 29, 2016

Wow. Too bad I steer clear of twitter and see no reason for a change of attitude. For some reason, upon reading about the irony you mention, I had the following flashback:

On March 22nd the leftist groups invaded the administration building and held a meeting in the university council room. In the name of the Enragés, René Riesel immediately demanded the expulsion of two observers from the administration and of several Stalinists who were present. After spokesmen for the anarchists, a regular collaborator of Cohn-Bendit's, had asserted that "the Stalinists who are here this evening are no longer Stalinists," the Enragés immediately left the meeting in protest against this cowardly illusion.

(Enragés and Situationists in the Occupations Movement)

petey

7 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by petey on October 29, 2016

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/sixers/76ers-apologize-to-national-anthem-singer-Sevyn-over-We-Matter-t-shirt-snub.html