JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS

I just hope the Republic can withstand the transition.

Agreed. Common ground achieved. Second time today!

I think the vast majority of Americans do believe that and do practice it. A lot of this may be generational. Are you a baby boomer? Your elevator analogy indicates you probably are. My generation doesn't have quite the same hang-ups. And my kids have no idea what we are even talking about. To them everyone is defined by their social media page not their skin color.

So what are you saying? Our American experiment in multicultural republicanism is doomed to failure?

common ground after all! You are restoring my faith in public discourse.

Well that actually explains a lot. When I stand for the National Anthem, I'm not standing up for a flag or a set of institutions. I'm singing a song of unity with the other 70k or so people and, by extension, 300 million others who live here. That doesn't mean I don't think the institutions can be made better. I do.

Yes he literally meant Joe From Hampton Roads. Do you see yet why large numbers of people feel insulted by him?

No sir you did not. WHO do you think he is talking about?

Yes. Indeed. He said "America". Who do you think he is talking about?

Pretty much, yes. What he's saying is blacks are institutionally repressed and America doesn't care. The implication is we are all of us guilty of institutional racism. Or do you think he's just talking about the Administratiion? But wait, that wouldn't make sense...

Ummm Colin Kaepernick? America is not a government, its the People. CK basically called 300 million people racist and told us all to F off. And apparently he will continue to tell us all to F off once a week for the season. beat me to it

For my kids, 1960 may as well be 1492. It is in fact a very long time ago. Over 50 years.

baby boomers are so overwhelmed with guilt, they fail to notice the world has changed since they grew up. News flash: my white privilege card seems to have expired sometime in the mid-nineties. And my kids have not been issued one at all. That's not a bad thing. There shouldnt be a race privilege card. And yet, some people act like they deserve one now for past grievances.

A BLM spokesperson told NPR that there can be no police "reform" because the police were created in the early 1800s to catch slaves and will forever have a slave-catching mentality. None of that is legit. And BTW she identified herself as a college professor, Scary.

there are legitimate grievances, but the fact that BLM tries to extrapolate what happens in a few isolated cases of questionable use of deadly force into an America that literally hunts down black men for sport is utter BS.

or better yet...every time he stands up.

I vote for spontaneous singing of the National Anthem...every time he gets sacked.

I forgot my wry humor font.

Or he's prepping for the claim "racist Chip Kelly fired me because I support civil rights."

No, he hasn't. Its all about him. This whole conversation has pretty much ruined my faith in 21st century America, and my Saturday. I blame CK personally.

Not to take away from the suffering of African Americans and Native Americans, but it should be noted that significant proportion of early European settlers came to this country as "indentured servants", which is pretty close to slavery but for a set time of 7 years. Some volunteered as a way of escaping jail or poverty in Europe, many were forced to come over in payment for debts. Conditions not as bad as black slavery in the 1800s, but at the time slaves and indentured servants were treated pretty similarly. Just food for thought in the discussion. FWIW, youre doing a good job of keeping the moral high ground, thank you. As for CK the individual I would have to agree with your arguments. America is all about the First Amendment, I get it. The problem is CK is not acting in his individual capacity, hes acting in his capacity as an NFL superstar who is breaking his written contract with the NFL and his unwritten contract with NFL fans that he will toe the company line in exchange for high privilege and million of dollars to play a useless game solely for our entertainment. This opportunity comes courtesy of the people of America via an exemption to the Anti-Trust Act that allows the NFL to rake in billions and pass some 12 million dollars of it to CK. When I joined the military I gave up my right to sit out the National Anthem, and they never paid me anything like 12 million dollars. CK can exercise his right all he wants if he quits NFL football and gets a job, say, as a law enforcement officer where he can push community policing and fair treatment of all citizens in a meaningful way.

Too true, and very troubling.

that is not even remotely my point. Now youre just being contrarian. Because freedom allows us to be this different, we need a shared sense of patriotism to keep us from tearing ourselves apart. As long as we can all stand together to celebrate our shared sense of unity from time to time, we'll be OK. When that ends ... buy gold.

No, its not. The only thing still holding this disparate bag of conflicting factions we call America together is a shared sense of patriotism. We no longer worship the same God (if any), hold the same values, hang out at the same places, watch the same entertainment, etc. etc. We barely speak the same language anymore and sure as hell don't share a sense of filial kinship. The one thing we still have (for now) is a sense that at least we live in a country where our differences can be strengths, and we can come together to acknowledge our equal shares in an inclusive society by standing together as one for the National Anthem. By refusing to stand, he not only contributes to the decline of this shared ideal, he tells me personally he does not want to share his world with me, his fellow American. IMO, he's just being a privileged rich athlete trying to justify the fact he gets paid millions of dollars to do nothing of real value for society. And BTW, if America has lost Buffalo, we've lost the Nation. Joe out.

...especially if this story is true