“Take a knee” (2016- ), known as #TakeAKnee on Twitter, is where you kneel instead of stand during the “Star-Spangled Banner”, the US national anthem. It was started last year by Colin Kaepernick, an American football player, to protest police brutality and racial injustice. Since 2009 it has been common for players throughout the National Football League (NFL) to stand during the song.
Colin Kaepernick is now out of the NFL: no team owner will hire him, despite his championship-level talent. But other players, like Michael Bennett, have started taking the knee. Most seem to be Black.
On Sunday yesterday (September 24th 2017) taking a knee spread like wildfire at football games across the nation. At one game even the singer of the “Star-Spangled Banner” himself took a knee! Stevie Wonder at a concert at Central Park in New York took both knees:
They were inspired by not Colin Kaepernick – but President Trump.
Respect for the flag: On Friday Trump was in the Deep South giving a speech in Huntsville, Alabama. Speaking to a heavily White audience, he said that taking a knee is disrespectful to “our” flag:
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”
His supporters loved it. On television they had to bleep out “bitch”.
This is the same man who just last month had a hard time saying anything bad about violent White protesters at Charlottesville who waved Nazi and Confederate flags, defending a statue that honours an enemy of the United States. Instead of calling them “sons of bitches”, he felt the need to say that some were “very fine people”.
Freedom of speech: Trump tried to frame taking a knee as disrespect for the flag. But by calling for the firing of those who express unpopular political views, it wound up becoming about freedom of speech. Something the flag itself is supposed to stand for! And so even some of Trump’s own friends and supporters in the NFL opposed him, showing support for those who took a knee.
Trump, not one to back down, doubled down. This morning on Twitter:
“So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won’t put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag – they said it loud and clear!”
“The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!”
He is calling for a boycott of the NFL.
Deflection: Note that making it about respect for the flag, or even free speech, draws attention away from what taking the knee is all about: protesting racial inequality and, in particular, police brutality.
Police brutality is something Trump himself is partly responsible for: it is his Justice Department which can choose to reform or not reform brutal police departments and which can uphold or not uphold the reforms already in place.
– Abagond, 2017.
Update (May 23rd 2018): Today the NFL banned taking a knee:
“A club will be fined by the League if its personnel are on the field and do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.”
Those who do not want to stand can stay in the locker room. The NFL owners came to this decision without talking to the union that represents the players.
Commissioner Roger Goodell:
“It was unfortunate that on-field protests created a false perception among many that thousands of NFL players were unpatriotic. This is not and was never the case.”
Vice President Mike Pence:
#Winning
Making America Great by forcing shows of patriotism – and silencing anti-racist protest.
Update (June 13th 2018): President Trump said of the dictator of North Korea:
“His country does love him. His people, you see the fervor. They have a great fervor.”
Also, last week Trump disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl champions, from visiting the White House because they took a knee – even though none of the took a knee during the past season.
See also:
- Star-Spangled Banner
- Colin Kaepernick
- Michael Bennett
- Charlottesville riot
- Confederate flag
- Donald Trump – the White President
- other troublesome Negroes:
- darkies – how Trump and other White paternalists, like at L’Oreal, view Black people.
- police brutality
I am in love with Donald Trump! His remarks about the NFL, the players and referring to their mothers as bit–hes is just what this nation needs. Now, black and white have to think about what this nation is, where it is going and if anyone is going to step up and say: “That’s enough! We have got to change this system of inequality and injustice, once and for all!”
America is at a dangerous crossroad, but one that has to be negotiated. The only question is: By whom? The rich and powerful who have enshrined racism into the law of the land? Or the masses good, hardworking black, white, Asian, and Latino folk who are tired of this insanity and the bloodshed.
Is it time for America to wage a “war on terror” right here at home with the same vigor it is being waged abroad? Think about it.
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The purpose of Colin Kaepernick’s protest got sidetracked because of Trump’s shenanigans. Even with everyone taking a knee the NFL owners got offended because Trump is clowning them the taking a knee by the players had nothing to do with social justice. But kudos to Steph Curry and Lebron James for standing up to Trump and his bullying. Kudos to Teresa Kaepernick Colin’s mom for shading Trump and his foolishness. The poor people in Puerto Rico are in crisis and Trump the dotard is Tweeting and cursing people out calling them SOB’s. I am so sick of the dominant culture using patriotism to mask their racism and the cowardice of the NFL owners to do the right thing and give Kaepernick a job.
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This NFL controversy by Trump also deflects attention from US inaction in relief for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico was utterly devastated by two Category 5 hurricanes. The people are without electric power, drinkable water, food, fuel and medical supplies.
Trump plays a good game of media distraction while the people of Puerto Rico and elsewhere are getting the Katrina treatment.
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@ Mary Burrell
“… the NFL owners to do the right thing and give Kaepernick a job.”
You just dropped the mic, Ms. Burrell!
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Trump is a hypocrite and a liar he is bloviating about being patriotic and respect for America when he dodged the draft. He even disrespected people who have served the country and died the Muslim-American solider and even John McCain who served the country as a POW. But his sycophantic supporters even with all the empirical evidence of his incompetence and being unfit to for the office of POTUS are too stupid too see this.
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@Afrofem: These shenanigans by Trump are nothing but distractions to keep people from focusing on his collusion with the Russians.
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I hope this will continue. People need to snow solidarity and protest. What’s the word? Civil disobedience. I don’t know why it’s seen as controversial; it’s what you do in such a situation. If it ends up being only black people, or only people of color showing this sort of protest to Trump, well, that’s saying something. But of course people need to do something. I can’t believe these things are seen as such a scandal.
Granted, I am not from the U.S. and I don’t understand the whole flag thing but civil disobedience seems like a normal thing to do, in lack of a better word. Why is this so scandalous in the U.S.? I mean on things like taking a knee, demonstrations, etc. This is what you do in situations like this. I had no idea it’s seen as strange or as an attack against the country itself… It’s clearly a political act.
I faced protests etc. as a teen so maybe this is why I don’t understand why it’s seen as scandalous. Of course those in charge and in power will not like them – but to spin something like this to be “unpatriotic” somehow?
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But NASCAR still flies the Confederate flag
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Respect to Stevie Wonder and his son i have always admired his social justice spirit.
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I thought about you (and the wonderful, fellow commentors) when I first got news of this Abagond, and as always your informative post did not disappoint! Afrofem, Mary, Brotherwolf n so many others have also long been instrumental in providing both a clear, precise insight of these krazy events that make uP this cesspool known as Amerika! @Mira, I understand your incredulity at this being seen as “scandalous”-and this is because in a nutshell the ‘States is actually very Conservative (i.e. narrow-minded) compared to many other Western nations, and why? Mainly due to it’s stern religious roots, and because thus country is built upon racism (conveniently covered uP under the guise of “patrotism”). You take tgat covering fron these blowhards/hypocrites, and then they’d have nowhere to hide, see? 😉
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Before kneeling, he sat. A white ex-soldier/former NFL player convinced Kaepernick to a take a knee instead of sitting, “Soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother’s grave, you know, to show respect….” .
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@Mz. Nikita: Hey Sis Hey🙌🏿😊
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Plus “Ungrateful” is the new Uppity. All these white folks on social media talking about how “ungreateful” the black athletes are. “They would be in prison if they weren’t making millions playing sports.” Now that’s racist AF. Just when is the right time for black folks to protest? You can’t tweet or march in the street, you can’t quietly take a knee because you are an ungrateful sob. So i guess those black athletes are supposed to be greatful to their white masters.
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In Amerika, politicians, (Republicans/Conservatives in particular) have a tendency to never respond directly to the issues at hand, but in the alternative, speak around the central issues and merely go through the usual motion in an attempt to foster the perception that things are being resolved or responded to. But in the end, nothing is being done.
Additionally, the corporate media play a silent, but large role here as well. As opposed to challenging Trump and his administration’s denial on the NFL players’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech, the media is in the process of letting Trump off the hook by failing to steer the conversation back towards the central issue: police brutality and injustices inflicted upon people of color, particularly Black folk! Isn’t this the primary reason why the NFL players are kneeling to begin with? It has nothing to do with disrespecting the Amerikan flag.
At bottom, the corporate press is in fact, effectively a conglomerate of a tool that gives the government (aka Trump) a voice to speak roundabout the issues, designed to self-censor when necessary to protect the government/Trump, and at all costs, refuse to think critically against the United States. This is what makes the press in this a racket!
“When a nation can’t admit to the process through which it builds hegemony, how can anything but delusion be a reality?” – Daniel Singer (1987)
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What could be more disrespectful of the US flag than to display the Confederate flag?
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The only SOB that needs to be fired lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
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^^^ In this country a racket ^^^
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@ Mira
I think that attitude is (at least in part) a legacy of the protests against the Vietnam War. Many people felt the war protesters were cowards and traitors who were only protesting because they didn’t want to serve their country in the military. Since then, it seems to have stuck as a typical criticism of protesters in general.
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Reblogged this on League of Bloggers For a Better World.
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A black person talking or acting out of turn has always been a white-hot target for mainstream America, who’d prefer blacks to be silent servants of the white ego. Why do you think the term “black best friend” exists?
It’s ironic that taking the knee was the most respectful way of protesting that Kaepernick could think of and it’s still getting him shat on, first by the NFL, and then by the usual suspects (including the Trumpenproletariat). The NFL are reacting only because Trump threw a few shots their way and they’d lose face by doing nothing about it.
Tim Tebow was taking the knee long before Kaepernick, but Tebow did it in service of white Christianity, so it wasn’t deemed offensive to the usual suspects.
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Definitely somebody is campaigning for the second term as POTUS!
Business as usual!
… and has significant possibilities of winning again!
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The first slave ship hit Virginia around 1619.
The American Revolution began somewhere around 1775 and supposedly ended around 1783. According to some historians, black people did participate on both sides. Supposedly, at the behest of George Washington and others, Betsy Ross supposedly sewed up a flag in 1776 to represent the nation. Somewhere around 1777, the Continental Congress supposedly passed an act to establish an official flag for the new nation, which turned out to be based on what Betsy Ross supposedly created for George Washington.
The American Civil War supposedly started in 1861 and supposedly ended in 1865. According to some historians, black people also served in this war and fought on both sides. Slavery supposedly ended around 1865.
Throughout the history of this country, the flag has stood tall — from its beginnings — and — throughout slavery.
Black people have fought and died for this country and the flag. Even so, Black people have been discouraged from participating in certain rights, including freedom of speech and peaceful decent through the use of physical violence, punishment, verbal abuse, threats, chastisement, cynicism, harassment and certain forms of humiliation and/or embarrassment. Now, on the world’s stage, prominent black people who participate in freedom of speech have been labelled as SOB’s and should be fired and/or blacklisted. And, when, and why, did kneeling, taking a knee, become so offensive it is punishable.
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This post is a better exploration of all the factors involved than any article I have seen yet.
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Yeah I just read that piece by Cobb.
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Eventually, the whole idea of takinga knee will simply mean nothing. It wil lturn into another empty gesture used to promote the idea that the person kneeling is doing something, or supports something. In the meantime, nothing is actually being done.
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…but at least it is a good gesture.
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@ Mack Lyons
“Trumpenproletariat”
Good one. They are also known as the aggrieved White middle class ($72K plus a year and they are still ticked).
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Even the American Conservative site is more focused on Puerto Rico than Trump’s antics:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/puerto-rico-needs-a-major-relief-effort/
They even link to a list of relief organizations.
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What we’re seeing here is not about Trump feeling that the flag is being disrespected. This is about Trump not wanting to see black men develop self-respect.
It’s about solidifying power and dominance for white males like Trump by having black men submit and not stand for what they believe in. They want black men to submit.
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@Mz. Nikita,
I remember being surprised how conservative U.S. truly is. Not just in terms of politics. This is completely the opposite of the image it usually portrays. I mean, demonstrations and people voicing/showing disagreement with the government should not be controversial for the country that is (allegedly?) all about democracy.
@Solitaire,
I didn’t even think about Vietnam War… Might be something to it. Not that it’s a good excuse, IMO.
Again, I do think the current outrage over this is the fact that it’s mainly about police brutality and black people protesting. Correct me if I’m wrong. Not that I could see this becoming more of a full anti-Trump protest but I am not sure if it’s part of that. It is true that Trump is openly hostile toward black people who are against him than white people. At least judging from his Twitter… I didn’t have a chance to hear what he says on TV.
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@Mary, hey there hunz! It’s been awhile, eh? Last time I wrote on here, I had recently given birth to my 1rst son (who will be 2 yrs next mth), so it’s definitely been a minute! @Mira, I concur with your statement about the undercurrent of heavy conservatism in the U.S., and it’s one of the many reasons why I leave this country to travel everY chance I get. I was pleased, but not at all surprised to find myself being treated much more kindly in England and France (especially) last year than I’ve ever been regularly treated here!
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My last thought on this subject Colin Kaepernick’s quite protest of taking a knee is not about disrespecting the flag or even that racist anthem. It’s about police brutality of black people and other people of color it’s that simple. How are white People getting this so twisted? This reminds me of Abagond’s post reading while white. All the white normative can see is a black man Not kneeling for what is a racist anthem that is the antithesis of liberty and justice for all in regards to black people. How to tone def and blind and stupid can they be. It’s like how many of the dominant culture doesn’t or refuses to understand what black lives mater is about. All we ask is for the police to stop killing black people it’s that simple nothing complex.
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quiet^^^^^
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“White supremacy wraps itself up in red, white, blue and calls itself patriotism.” -Terrell Jermaine Starr
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@ Mr. Mitchell
Trump’s not that cerebral. For him, it’s about creating controversy, which in turn creates media attention for himself. Case in point? Trump’s statement has dominated the news for the past few days, while the devastation in Puerto Rico keeps getting put on the media backburner. As Tommy Sotomayor (who just received his 3am Nygga Wake-Up Call over this issue) puts it, Trump is all for “dick and attention.”
I genuinely believe he could care less about Kaepernick. He’s just reading how his closest supporters are reacting to the situation and crafting a custom-tailored response to rally the base.
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@ Mack Lyons
Exactly.
It’s about the POTUS being re-elected for the second term. He is on campaign.
Almost all acts of the POTUS can be explained by that.
He is trying to convince his base, again and again, that he is exactly what they were looking for, long ago, that he is gonna do what they expected from him. Nothing more, nothing less.
It’s not about his heart or feelings. It’s about maintaining or expanding his voter base.
And I think that if he continues in this way, his chances to win a second term will be probably higher (in a few years from now) than what he had in the last elections. So you can count on a 2-terms Trump’s White House. = 8 years!
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@ Munubantu
Unless Trump is impeached or is removed from office for senility. Both options are still on the table at the moment.
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https://www.lipstickalley.com/attachments/upload_2017-9-27_13-25-14-png.46402/
I wish these NFL players would take their protest a step further n refuse 2 play the game. Stop making these old white men wealthier off ur labor when they think so little of our health and lives.
Trump ?
He’s just reinforcing his support with his base (n believe me he’s doing it)
How is the president of a world power country able 2 sit on twitter n argue bk n forth with sports team like a high schooler in detention ?
Trump’s always had NFL envy. He’s always wanted 2 own a team. After his disastrous stint as a team owner in the USFL n the USFL losing their war with the NFL, he’s basically blackballed from any ownership stake.
If Obama urged a private company 2 fire sum1 4 doing something he didn’t like, white media would have lost their minds. It would have been the main topic on Fox 4 weeks. The White House urging a private company 2 fire some1 (As Trump did) is a felony and punishable for up to 15 years in prison.
But Trump isn’t suddenly racist. He isn’t suddenly a white supremacist. He’s been this way all his life.
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Some comments from the white media (who know it all, but of course!):
https://www.henrymakow.com/2017/09/dont-feel-sorry-for-american.html
https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/open-letter-to-nfl-players-youre-being-used/
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Wow.
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/09/25/2-national-anthem-singers-take-knees-during-nfl-sunday-games/23222370/
“Both the Tennessee Titans and the Seattle Seahawks remained in their locker rooms for the national anthem. ”
Maybe a bit ‘politick’ there, with the teams obviating the need to kneel by remaining off the field (which is somewhat disingenuous?), but wow. Who woulda thought.
@miss mary b trump is 71 he coulda/shoulda got drafted ima look that up. Thx.
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I don’t know about you, but it’s high time we face the facts that Trump is far right who only cares about keeping the loyalty of his supporters. He doesn’t care about the rest of the American population, just the small segment who would talk a mile through H*ll for him. They are the only people he cares enough to use as he pleases, and they’re lost enough to allow it to happen.
To Trump and his fans, America is a white nation where only white people can do anything, because they’re “real” Americans, those of European descent. Only they matter. Only their race problems matter.
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http://www.snopes.com/2016/08/02/donald-trumps-draft-deferments/
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Robert Klemko, a writer for Sports Illustrated had some interesting “read between the lines” commentary on Roger Goodall’s recent letter to NFL owners, players and fans.
This passage really struck a chord:
https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/10/10/roger-goodell-national-anthem-letter-nfl-owners
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@ Afrodem
Same as with ESPN and L’Oreal: Black people are to be seen but not heard.
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Are most people really so stupid as not to see through Trump’s fake patriotism?
Are most people really so racist as not to be outraged by police brutality?
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“Are most people really so stupid as not to see through Trump’s fake patriotism?”
Nothing “fake” about Trump’s patriotism. He doesn’t buy your multiculti version of same.
“Are most people really so racist as not to be outraged by police brutality?”
Very likely.
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@ gro jo
So how is his idea of patriotism different than mine?
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I think Trump’s patritism is fake because he is a narcissist. He lacks empathy, a quality needed for patriotism.
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“So how is his idea of patriotism different than mine?”
Are you confessing to being a white nativist? Are you for keeping Mexicans and others out of the USA? If you are, you’ve done a terrible job advertising such views.
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patriotism doesn’t imply sympathy for anybody, it means you want to be with people that you perceive you share certain common traits with.
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If racist = true patriot then many vile people are real patriots, yes. However, I think many other people would contest that equivalence. White nativism is fundamentally contradictory on a continent where people of European descent are not native. How can an invasive race credibly claim only they belong? The continent became majority white through immigration and genocide.
Many Mexicans are likely more native to the Americas, ancestrally than the average Euro-American. Many African Americans have been here longer, ancestrally, than many white Americans who had major waves of immigration relatively recently. Heck, IIRC Trump’s, or should I say Drumpf’s, grandfather and mother were both foreign-born [German and Scottish]. If Europeans can claim a right to be here, because they came, so can others.
So I would argue that a vision of America than imagines it as ALL-white when it was literally NEVER so is by definition fake. Several aspects of American culture are a RESULT of the diversity in its history. Basically, everything about the South, for example, from cuisine to music to dialect would be very different if not for its historical fact of its relatively large population of African descended people. White nativism, a contradiction in terms, would destroy the actual, existing, diverse America and is therefore anti-patriotic. FAKE.
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Patriotism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. John Brown was no less a patriot than Bobby Lee. One was executed by the USA for insurrection while the other was allowed to live after leading a bloody war against the USA! I would argue they were both USA patriots in their own way. Brown was for radical surgery on the morals of the nation and Lee for keeping things as they were.
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@Origin
That’s the moral bankrupt of these people. Oh yeah, they have one inconclusive POS evidence to back up their nativism. Google ‘Clovis Man’ the whole White Nationalist Nativism claim relies solely on this piece of evidence. LOL
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@ Origin
“White nativism is fundamentally contradictory on a continent where people of European descent are not native.”
AYE!
That is why they are prepared to murder everyone who can point out that simple fact———–whether they live on this continent or another continent.
“White Nativism” is built on the most fragile of constructs. It is surrounded by a hardened armor of myth, altered history and phony “science”. No wonder they become so hysterical when other people assert themselves.
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We need a post on the definition of patriotism.
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@ Origin
Right, a true racist nativism would push this racial hierarchy:
#1. Native Americans
#2. Native Hawaiians
#3. Mestizos
#4. Blacks
#5. Whites
#6. Asians
Most Natives came before 1492, most Blacks before 1808, most Whites after 1845 and most Asians after 1965.
They would be huge champions of Native Americans.
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@abagond
The Mestizos,etc have lineages in purchased parts of the South West before it even became America. And if we are talking about within modern human history of the past 10,000 years Native Americans originally settled here from Asia.
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Lol, you people make me laugh with your accurate definitions of terms. Clovis man was no more ‘white’ than any other Amerindian. Do you really believe that he looked like the actor who played Jean-Luc Picard on tv? I use terms as they are historically defined not their logical meanings. Trump is the poster child for a white nativist. The dumb bastard thinks he can push the Iranians around the way whites pushed the Indians around.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-set-new-conditions-for-us-to-stay-in-iran-nuclear-deal-tossing-issue-to-congress/2017/10/13/39ac3894-af82-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.6f3bc33314a8
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Update (May 23rd 2018): Today the NFL banned taking a knee:
Those who do not want to stand can stay in the locker room. The NFL owners came to this decision without talking to the union that represents the players.
Commissioner Roger Goodell:
Vice President Mike Pence:
Making America Great by forcing shows of patriotism – and silencing anti-racist protest.
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The NFL owners are quite an anti-democratic bunch. No surprise in their decision.
Nationally, they extorted money for their expensive stadiums from local governments and local taxpayers while they kept the profits for themselves.
Now they declare their allegiance to the police with rhetoric about “…respect for the flag and the Anthem.”
Black lives really don’t matter to them. Also no surprise.
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The NFL would be nothing without its Black players. There is no reason why they should have to put up with this.
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http://work.chron.com/much-money-nfl-player-make-year-2377.html
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abagond
” There is no reason why they should have to put up with this.”—Fear is a powerful thing. When you fear the unknown you are least likely to take a risk. Either that or they don’t care.
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This is false patriotism it is nationalism and keeping white supremacy alive and spreading.
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Just thinking out loud wish the black NFL players would boycott and not play as a form of protest.
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I guess Americans have forgotten Roseanne Barr mock singing the National Anthem.
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Roseanne Barr grabbed her privates during the National Anthem and is a virulent racist. But white Americans developed amnesia about that. Why haven’t they called her disgusting antics disrespectful to the country.
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@ Mary
Because she is White which means she IS the country. She is not an object of White paternalism. Gratitude from her is neither expected nor required.
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@Abagond: I actually had forgotten about Roseanne until learning about her racist tweets about black women.
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Update: President Trump said of the dictator of North Korea:
Also, last week Trump disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl champions, from visiting the White House because they took a knee – even though none of the took a knee during the past season.
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@Abagond: Trump is an aspirational despot/dictator. I heard on one of my podcast, the late chef Anthony Bourdain was no fan of Trump, when asked what dish would he prepare for Trump and Kim Jong Un, he responded “hemlock.”
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The Philadelphia Eagles team never took a knee, this is just the extreme right wing Fox News propaganda machine dispensing lies as usual.
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@ Mary Burrell
Love your phrasing in the comment above. Well said.
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@Afrofem: Thank you ☺️
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If you look at ‘taking a knee’ historical it could be interpreted as even more honor or severe allegiance rather than as any type of rebuttal. Ancient civilizations ‘gladiator games’ to the marriage proposal is accustomed to ‘taking a knee’. Don’t forget begging for forgiveness to ‘knighting’. So this clearly doesn’t rationalize correctly as any form of insult or offense.
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