usmbguest5318
Gold Member
As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except Negroes." When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except Negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.
-- Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Letters
-- Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Letters
Regarding Colin Kaepernick's kneeling to express his lack of "pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," I've seen and heard some so-called conservatives respond that expressions of protests/advocacy should happen on the athlete's own time. Accordingly, I wondered what other athletes have used the visibility of the venue of their sport to call attention to whatever cause or idea they were advancing at the time.
Here is what I have found:
- 1906 -- Peter O’Connor -- At the 1906 Olympics (also known as the Intercalated Games), Irish long jumper Peter O’Connor protested after his second-place finish was honored by the raising of the British flag. Wishing to only represent Ireland, and not the whole of Britain, O’Connor scaled the flagpole and waved the Irish flag himself while fellow countryman Con Leahy guarded him at the foot of the pole.
- 1960 -- Taiwanese Olympic Team -- The IOC didn't allow Taiwan's team to compete under the name Republic of China, instead forcing the team to be recognized as Taiwan or Formosa. The whole team entered the games behind the sign "Under Protest."
- 1968 -- John Carlos and Tommie Smith -- At the Mexico City Olympics, when runners John Carlos and Tommie Smith famously raised their fists in the Black Power salute after winning bronze and gold medals, respectively, while the national anthem played.
- 2004 to 2006 -- Carlos Delgado -- Beginning in the 2004 season Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado decided to no longer stand for "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch of Major League Baseball games. In the 7th inning Delgado would stand silently in protest in the dugout. Delgado began to stand again in 2006 when he joined the NY Mets.
- 2010 -- Phoenix Suns team -- In their May 5, 2010 playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Phoenix Suns "Los Suns" jerseys to protest Arizona's then new immigration law.
- 2014 -- LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Jarret Jack and Kevin Garnett -- Each wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts in reference to the last words of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man who died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold. They were part of a string of athletes sporting similar shirts during warm-ups in recognition of the protests that stemmed from the lack of indictment of the officer who killed Garner.
- 2014 -- Five St. Louis Rams -- Five St. Louis Rams players took to the field during a game against the Oakland Raiders with the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” pose made iconic by the protests in Ferguson.
- 2014 -- Ariyana Smith -- The Knox College athlete, during the singing of the national anthem, walked onto the court with her hands raised and fell to the floor for four and a half minutes to protest the police killing of Michael Brown.
- An entire career in baseball -- Throughout his long and respected career, Shawn Green refused to play in games which fell on Yom Kippur. Green, an all-star right fielder for the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Mets sat out regardless of his team's need for his bat or their position in a September pennant race.
- Other protest/advocacy actions by athletes:
Is there a designated right or wrong time and place to protest? Well, mostly no. [1] Readers here need not agree with me on that, but that one disagrees doesn't alter the fact that there is no designated time or place for anyone to express themselves.
The Conservative Hypocrisy Regarding Individual Rights:
When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch.
-- Bette Davis
-- Bette Davis
One of the cornerstones of normative Conservative ideology is the protection and exercise of individual rights. That's what underpins why conservatives think a videographer should not be required to film a gay wedding. [2] It's the concept conservatives used to argue that a Kentucky clerk should not have been required to issue gay marriage licenses. Those are but two examples. There are plenty more:
- Traditional Conservative Beliefs
- Liberalism & Conservatism
- Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs
- Hayek, Buchanan and Conservatism
Colin Kaepernick is exercising his individual liberty to advocate for that in which he believes. His doing so deprived nobody of that for which they were paying -- the entertainment of watching two sport teams compete. His kneeling didn't delay the game or make it run into overtime and had no bearing on the game's final score. In spite of that conservatives are up in arms about the mere fact that the man knelt during the national anthem. Doing so is his individual right to do. Period.
Note:
- There are some laws that prohibit protests within a certain proximity to or on certain properties.
- I found it especially odd that conservatives advocated that the videographer be allowed to deny service to the gay couple. One of conservative's main justifications for individual liberty is economic, yet they were encouraging a legal position that unavoidably diminishes free market returns to the economy. Conceptually, it was like a potter wanting to amputate his perfectly fine hand. The popular outcry on behalf of the videographer made it really clear to me that most conservatives don't really know what conservatism is. (That's not the only illustration of that, but it's enough for this thread.)
