CDZ The right time and place for advocacy/protest is when and where one can or wants to

[usmbguest5318]

When it comes to one's expressing their (dis-)approbation of an idea -- that is, one advocating/protesting [1] for or against it -- almost any time or place is permissible, though there are some limits. The key factors to keep in mind regarding protesting are the location of the advocacy/protest and the form of the protest.

Locations:

• On private property, one can only protest/advocate for a cause to the extent the owner/overseer/custodian of the property will allow it to happen. Private entities/persons are under no obligation to grant/accede to one's exercise of one's 1st Amendment right of expression. For instance:
  • USMB, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are well within their rights to promulgate and enforce content rule pertaining to posts and content placed on their sites.
  • Private colleges and universities are under no obligation to permit anyone to say what they want where and when they want.
• On public property, there are very few restrictions. There are some limits about demonstrating within certain distances of schools and embassies, but as an individual, one can advocate pretty much anywhere one can access.

Form of the protest/advocacy:

• Personal advocacy --> This is all sorts of things...wearing a "cause" garment, carrying a placard, using certain hand signals, bumper stickers, etc. Individuals don't need anything, other than their will, to advocate for whatever it suits them to champion.
• Demonstrations --> This is a formally organized event where at people gather to advocate en masse for their cause/idea. This is what one may need a permit for, depending on where one demonstrates

Putting things together:
So thinking about the NFL players' "kneel" advocacy, what type of advocacy is it and does it occur in publicly or privately held property?

Well, it's personal advocacy. That's clear as goes Colin K, that there was no demonstration going on. Even when various players at games arbitrarily took a knee, that was still just individual advocacy. It was just multiple individuals, as a result of some external stimulus, doing the same thing at the same time -- much like schools of fish -- which outwardly can look similar to a demonstration, but it's not a demonstration. If the team were to somehow get fans in the stadium to also "take a knee," that would shift the thing from being multiple individuals doing the same thing at the same time to being an impromptu demonstration. The kneeling players are no more demonstrating than are all the fans in the stand when they stand and cover their chests for the playing of the Anthem.

The NFL players' pre-game advocacy happens in a public place, provided the football game in question is being played in a stadium owned by the city, county, or state and then leased to the team/NFL. The advocacy happens in a private place when the stadium is privately owned/controlled. Last I'd heard, the Redskins, Jets/Giants (100% of the building, but none of the land), Panthers, Dolphins, and I think Dallas, but I'm even less sure about that.

• NFL Stadium Funding Information -- The info in this document is informative but not definitive (save for the Giants/Jets) on who holds title to the stadiums noted in it.

I'll close with the following video.

​

Note:

1. As goes free speech law, advocacy and protest are the same things.
2. For a brief discussion on the circumstances in which discussion can be limited, see: Limitations on Expression - LawShelf Educational Media

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Absolutely!!
And I and most other NFL fans have equal rights to not like it and tell them to stick their fake outrage up their ass.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

The pampered pets and the NFL are only shooting themselves in the foot

 

[usmbguest5318]

The pampered pets and the NFL are only shooting themselves in the foot

Well, now, that remains to be seen.

 

[OldLady]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

 

[usmbguest5318]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

There were so many ambiguous "theys" and vague statements/assertions in that post I decided I wouldn't even bother responding to it. How did you figure out who "they" are?

 

[OldLady]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

There were so many ambiguous "theys" and vague statements/assertions in that post I decided I wouldn't even bother responding to it. How did you figure out who "they" are?

The topic is NFL players?

 

[Dogmaphobe]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

Nope. Not by a long shot.

If a three hundred pound white thug tried to take a cop's gun, believe me - the results would be the same.

You are already on record as indicating blacks should be favored over all others when it comes to employment and educational opportunities. This is but an attempt to place them above all others in matters of law and order.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

There were so many ambiguous "theys" and vague statements/assertions in that post I decided I wouldn't even bother responding to it. How did you figure out who "they" are?

I would imagine that most intelligent people understand that "they" refers to the football players who are acting out the way they are.

 

[usmbguest5318]

The most utterly privileged members of society are displaying disrespect for their country in order to create even more privilege for themselves. It isn't enough that they have been treated like gods ever since they displayed their athletic talent as a teenager and so did not have to face any consequences for behavior. It isn't enough that they were allowed to attend Universities their academic merits did not justify. It isn't enough that they can smack people around with only a smack on the wrist in return by the authorities. Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

There were so many ambiguous "theys" and vague statements/assertions in that post I decided I wouldn't even bother responding to it. How did you figure out who "they" are?

I would imagine that most intelligent people understand that "they" refers to the football players who are acting out the way they are.

Now, they want ALL black people to be able to indulge in all manner of criminality without repercussions. Why blame them, though -- they have never received any repercussions for their OWN behavior.

Sure, they have a right to behave in ways their employer allows them to behave, but really now -- let's not pretend this is anything but a collective act of intimidation attempting to create even more privilege than they already have.

Consider the rhetoric one encounters on USMB and ask yourself whether, in the transition from the end of your first paragraph to the final one, it's clear whether "they/them" in those sentences refers to black people in general or NFL players.

I don't know what you have said on USMB about black folks in general, but I know I have seen several posts in which people portray the black citizenry using similar language and themes as those found in the emboldened text above. Accordingly, I wasn't sure whether, as is typical of many essays, the subject of one of your first paragraph's final sentences was the subject of the following paragraph. Indeed, that organization/structure is among the most common ways to transition from one paragraph to the next.

Had the first "they" in the first sentence of your final paragraph instead been "NFL players" or "professional athletes" or "black folks" or something other than a pronoun that might plausibly have referred to either NFL players or black people (the two main nouns in your first paragraph), there'd have been no ambiguity. I can read what you write, but I cannot read your mind.

 

[Leo123]

They just want cops to treat black folks the way they treat white folks.

That is blatant bullshit.

"incidents, such as the tragic one in Charlotte this week, the involved police are themselves black."

"So just as “global warming” had to become “climate change” to adjust for, you know, reality, the cops in our narrative have been “whited out,” as it were."

“cops preying on black men” narrative fed us nightly on the news and daily on the campus. There used to be, if not truth, at least a certain coherence to it: The story line, consistent with a racialized fable, was that white cops are preying on black men. But the narrative won’t hold. In too many “police involved” incidents, such as the tragic one in Charlotte this week, the involved police are themselves black. So just as “global warming” had to become “climate change” to adjust for, you know, reality, the cops in our narrative have been “whited out,” as it were."

"The elephant in the room, the fundamental to which we must never refer, is propensity toward criminality. It is simply a fact that blacks, and particularly young black men, engage in lawless conduct, very much including violent conduct, at rates (by percentage of population) significantly higher than do other racial or ethnic groups."

"Crime gets reported by victims; the police don’t invent it, they investigate it. Overwhelmingly, the victims of black crime are black people"

Read more at: Our Dangerous Drift from Reason