THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — Barack Obama once said, “We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.”
In other words, we all have a responsibility to make sure that ALL Americans are treated fairly and embraced in this country. So when the current President of the United States says in response to the new NFL national anthem policy, “You have to stand proudly for the National Anthem or you shouldn’t be playing. You shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.” It says just the opposite of what the previous president so eloquently articulated and it completely contradicts what the American flags represents.
Freedom is for all Americans and if any of us feels disinfranchised then we’ve failed to live up to the principles of our constitution. If White Supremacists had the freedom and right to assemble in Charlottesville and later be called “very nice people” by the same president that is now tellin’ NFL players that they shouldn’t be in this country we’ve got a serious problem.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! It’s a shame that ignorance has highjacked this situation and changed the narrative to “disrespect” of the flag because people refuse to deal with the racism that has built this country from day one. In 1492 boyz started lyin’ to folks about some cat named Christopher Columbus discoverin’ a land that had already been inhabited by Native Americans for hundreds of years. That same group of people were essentially eliminated by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 signed by then President Andrew Jackson. The Native Americans were forced west of the Mississippi River onto reservations. Well…those that went peacefully. Millions were killed for simply tryin’ to defend what rightfully belonged to them.
Then in 1619 Africans were kidnapped and brought here to work as slaves to actually build this country. An entire industry of cotton built this country on the free labor of the very backs of millions of slaves for the next 240 years. Not to mention all of the free labor gained after the emancipation from share croppers.
That same racism that fueled early America still exists today. The only reason that Colin Kaepernick took a seat and then a knee durin’ the national anthem was to bring attention to the police brutality, racism and social injustice that continues to fester in America. But when the president tells it’s citizens that maybe they shouldn’t be in this country if they don’t like how they’re bein’ treated tells us that the very racism that built America is as strong as ever.
The NFL completely dropped the ball on this foolishness because they’ve essentially stirred up the hornets nest with this new policy. By tellin’ players that they would be fined if they “disrespected” the flag essentially kicks the nest down the street and it aggravates those hornets even more. Players will be fined if they’re on the field and don’t stand. However, they do have the option to remain in the locker room if they want.
Well…that invites further division among teams and fans. Why? Because many of the players are goin’ to remain in the locker rooms and several will come out for the anthem. The fans that are ignorant are now goin’ to say that those that stay in the locker room are disrespectin’ the flag. It’s goin’ to be more of a farce now than it’s ever been and who gets to determine what is disrespectful? Stayin’ in the locker room or comin’ out and takin’ a knee? The ignorance of it all blows my mind.
Racism is at the root of the problem and ignorance continues to water it. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!