(10-14-2017, 03:26 PM)Caldrac Wrote:

(10-14-2017, 02:43 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote: My take on it:
-I don't have a problem with their protesting. It's protected by the Constitution.

-I do have a problem that they are causing further division in this country by continuing to protest in such a way that is known to be inflammatory. This makes the whole conversation about the meaning of the protest null and void because all people talk about is the anthem and the flag and being disrespected which is a whole other conversation.

-It's ruining the ability to read or listen to articles and comments about the game or general team information because it's all about..... the anthem, the flag and being disrespected. 

-They should not be doing this on the job. None of us can go to work and protest while on the clock, why should they? We don't pay money to watch them protest and listen to all the crap from the commentators. We pay to watch a game. 

-I've said it before, if you want your message heard start in the community. A perfect example is of Malik Jackson and Ernest Wilford going to a school together to talk to kids. More of that is needed.

This is where I kind of get lost in all this. People are saying they're doing it on the job yet they're not on the football field when the anthem is being performed. It's not disrupting anything since it's all happening simultaneously. And as far as it being inflammatory. Their protest is about as peaceful as I've seen it. In comparison to the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa's "peaceful" protests. As far as it being all about the anthem and ruining the game. Thank the media for that. They love this [BLEEP]. They eat it up. Like they've always done. Race has ALWAYS been a [BLEEP] issue in this country. ALWAYS.
-When they show up on game day they're on the clock. The disruption comes from the commentators and talking heads constantly bringing it up before, during and after the games. It comes from all the articles and posts on websites and social media talking about it. The protests are peaceful in that they aren't physically starting riots, impeding traffic, etc., but it's not peaceful in that it's obviously inflammatory by the reaction of a lot of folks. I agree about the media. They suck. 

The problem I have is with some of these ideas and beliefs that it starts in the community. I agree with this to an extent. The problem that I have seen though is that those moments are watered down into little five to ten minute "feel good" segments just before kick-off and it's not spreading any kind of message. The problem isn't entirely on the communities either. It's more so about police brutality and injustice. 

And that goes for everybody. Not just black people. I often hear right wing conservatives bring up the statistics of being white and being 6x more likely to be shot by the Police. Which is true. But that's kind of redundant at the same time and a pointless argument when you realize white people make up over 60% of our country's population. 
-You have to start somewhere and if people these kids look up to are willing to have a conversation about what it going on and why and how they have handled situations they've come up against, I think it would begin make a difference. But it has to be consistent, not a watered down version like you said. Kids learn from the environment around them and a lot of kids are not learning the right way to deal with things. And I mean kids in general, not just black kids. 

And whether anybody likes it or not black communities are disproportionately targeted. They only make up 13% of the population but make up 50% of the prison population. With most arrests happening over marijuana roughly 7 times out of 10. Which is a joke on it's own. And I've seen the hypocrisy my whole life. It's not some made up myth or bull [BLEEP] fairy tale.

I've grown up poor and lived in poor [BLEEP] ghettos and middle class suburban white neighborhoods. I can personally go into my parent's neighborhood and point out anywhere between 5 to 7 known pot heads and 3 distributors. All white people. Most of whom make a pretty damn good living already with a primary job and just peddle it around for extra income. They've done it for years. And they've never been caught. Why? Because the police don't patrol middle class white neighborhoods.

Growing up near University and Arlington in the early 1990's? Saw two or three cops between the mornings I went to school and when I got off the bus. And they were always looking for pot. That's the truth of it. Police have numbers to meet. And they go fishing in poor communities because they know that's where all the drug slinging is. It's a systematic issue. And people need to be educated on it and take their blinders off.
-How about people stop buying drugs? How about people stop committing crimes? The illegal activity brings the cops. The suspicion of illegal activity in known crime areas are what bring the cops. Don't paint a picture of innocent people doing nothing illegal. Do innocent people get caught in the crossfire? Yes, they do, and it's tragic but it comes with the territory of being around people who are not innocent or having the dumb luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do I believe there is police brutality? I do, but not on the level that the media- remember the circus you mentioned earlier who thrives on drama- makes it out to be.

Just as an aside- I've lived in every neighborhood Duval county has to offer and I've seen and heard things from the poorer neighborhoods that made me see red. People bragging about how they work the welfare system to get more food stamps or how they 'sell' their food stamps to get cash to by liquor and their blunts. How they work the system to get low income housing and all kinds of other jacked up stuff. I've seen people stealing stuff out of a house in broad daylight with neighbors watching and no one saying a word. I've had to dive into a construction dumpster so I wouldn't get accidentally (or otherwise) shot when JSO showed up drawing down on a guy for looting a nearby house. I was working on a house once when JSO showed up and raided a house a block away. Where did all of this happen? On the north side of I-10 and in Springfield. Hell, I lived two houses down from a drug house where the guy survived a drive by one weekend only to be shot point blank on his porch the following weekend. That happened a couple of blocks off Main St. I can't remember the name of the street now as that was 10 years ago, but it was closer to downtown than the north end.  

I may have seen some crazy stuff on the westside with all the poor white rednecks, but nothing like what I saw, heard and experienced with the poor black folks. I'm not saying there aren't poor white folks that don't game the system, don't have crime issues and so on, but not near to the extent the black community does. Or maybe they just don't brag about it like it's some sort of badge of honor. I had no idea the stuff these people talked about was happening until I heard it with my own ears and seriously, it's like they were proud of how they worked the system. So again, let's not pretend the neighborhoods the cops target are full of innocents. They may not be guilty of something worthy of a patrol car sniffing around but you reap what you sow. One way or another. None of us escape without paying our dues for what we've done.