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James had said:
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HeyBill, so talking about Kaepernick in Reader's Posts...ever remember anything like that in baseball? How would that play in Boston with the Pats or the Red Sox?
Asked by: OldBackstop
Answered: 8/30/2016
I can't speak for Boston; I'm not even a Bostonian. You may remember that Carlos Delgado refused to stand for the National anthem, and this was ten years ago when Post-9/11 patriotism was higher than it is now. It wasn't as big a deal, because Delgado was not a US citizen and was not playing for a US team, but he did get booed in some cities for a year or so.
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And:
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Not a question, but apropos of current events, it seems to me that in a free country no one should be forced to participate in a patriotic display against his will.
Asked by: bobfiore
Answered: 8/28/2016
Or a birthday party, either; nobody should have to be in a birthday party. Or a human resources training session. Marathon. Gunfight. Knife fight. Marching band. Shouldn't have to do any of these things.
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DR'S DIAGNOSIS
It is provocative that James would compare [indoctrination towards patriotism] to [indoctrination toward diversity] in the workplace. Heh.
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(1) I think I've heard EVERYBODY acknowledge Kaepnick's right to state his view. Nobody's question is, should he be jailed for sitting during the National Anthem.
Even the SF Police Union, which called for an apology in Black Lives Matter style, took considerable pains to reinforce Kaepernick's right to state his opinion.
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(2) What's odd is that he did it during workplace hours, and that the NFL supports this workplace privilege to make political statements during work hours. I'd thought the last twenty years, the discussion had been trending towards "if you say something contrary to your employer's brand, you can be fired for it," as with Curt Schilling, who made a political statement OUTSIDE of the workplace.
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(3) I like the fact that Kaepernick received no punishment for his point of view - criminal, civil, or workplace. In America, the appropriate "punishment" for foolish statements (if that's what Kaepernick's be) is to be proven a fool in public discourse. Would that this standard were equal on both sides of the aisle, such as when Phil Robertson wants to state his view of marriage in off-hours contexts.
But it's not like Kaepernick sat down, and then downplayed it after the furore started. He doubled and tripled down with his clarifiations, saying that America is an intolerable place for blacks to live, etc. Which, again, is his right, as it's any other citizen's right to call that idea ridiculous.
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(4) I was shocked by the amount of pushback that Kaepernick got. I had no idea that the "America Stinks" message was still this controversial. I'd been under the impression that it was mainstream. Even a lot of uber-liberal San Franciscans seemed annoyed.
I'm still quite confused as to why Kaepernick is drawing so much fire for this. This would be the "honest question" on which denizens could set me straight. I wouldn't have expected 1% of the attention that this got.
In my humble opinion, you can see a lot of current-issues debates through this angle: is a problem basically because America is a fouled-up country, or is it for some external reason? For example, did the Orlando shootings occur because jihadists are crazy, or did they occur because America doesn't control its own guns? What proportion of blame do you assign: 55-45, or 80-20, or (as I probably would) 99-1? This "America the Good/Evil" theme resonates through a lot of topics, it seems to me.
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(5) Whether Kaepernick be right or wrong, the timing on this is a big distraction for the 49er's. And it hits me as selfish on that basis. You get the idea that Kaepernick sees the writing on the wall. Could be mistaken. There are many societal ills that an athlete can direct his attention towards, such as Russell Wilson directing his attention towards children with cancer. For Kaepernick to spray charcoal fluid on the racial tensions at this moment of time seems ill-advised to me, in football terms, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is the exact moment at which African-Americans can achieve critical mass and achieve racial justice?
I think young black men need to be able to speak, and in their own voices. Towards racial justices. But I think the same about old white men. We'd all like to find ways to help those children who start their lives with the deck stacked against them.
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(6) My personal opinion is this: All societies have their plusses and minuses, but I'm very, very grateful to have been 1 of the 25 people worldwide who were born in America. Twenty years ago, I was a lot more glad to be an American than I am right now :- ) but am still quite glad to not be living in Venezuela.
For me this, as many such "American the Oppressor" stories, becomes a gratitude vs grievance issue at bottom.
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(7) Three years ago, SSI challenged 49'ers fans to name a dynasty that had been quarterbacked by a punk. Nyah, nyah, nyah.
:- )
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Respectfully,
Jeff
