My opinion on the NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem: I don't think they're anti-American. They're using their right to peaceful protest. There were a couple of reasons(cont'd below)

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I'm a veteran. I'll say this for everyone as the one person who has the most right to be offended:

They are exercising their god given rights to express themselves, and there is nothing innately wrong with that. You may think them stupid (I do), or asshats (yup), or hypocritical (a bunch of millionaires protesting unfair treatment? Check.), but they have every right as Americans to express themselves and demonstrate.

That said, if it dips ratings (and it shouldn't - WWE proved that drama sells as much as athleticism does), then they should all get read the riot act quick because Football is a for-profit business.

But please, stop calling them un-American. Pissing people off by saying and doing things that offend your government is literally an ideal upon which our country was founded.

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P1, the NFL is actually a non-profit. Their mission is to deliver concussions.

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I personally don't care what they do before the game starts. They could sacrifice cute puppies as long as my players perform for my fantasy team.

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The NFL before 2009 didn't have their players stand for the anthem or even show up on the field. They were paid by the DoD and Coast Guard in an attempt to create "paid patriotism." The hypocrisy of the people criticizing this peaceful protest of police brutality is sickening when most of them don't stand for the anthem when they watch football games on TV or hold even Trump to the same standard

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If you don't think trumps tweet triggered today's mass response then I'm not sure what to say. All of these players and people didn't just wake up and say hey Kaep is right...they did it to spite Trump and send a message

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There were a couple of reasons this began.
1) The national anthem's original 3rd verse (that had to be removed in 1917 or 18 in order to even be considered for the national anthem) is incredibly racist. There's no disputing that.
2) A disproportionate ratio of minority men and women are unfairly targeted/profiled for crime compared to all white people.
The intent of Colin Kaepernick's initial knee when he was still employed was to start a national conversation. I do not discount the NFL's right as a business to say "we will not keep/hire/rehire players who take a knee", but I respect the team members' rights to speak out. There's no violence. No rioting. They're not hurting you. There's a problem in this country, so let's talk about it.

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Damn how did you type that much on your phone SM1

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Hats off to all the football players who stood alone because they understand the true meaning of the anthem. Yes trump is out of line but take it somewhere else.

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Actually, they have the right to protest as they see fit (at the work place, absolutely) and a protest is meaningless if it doesn't upset the normal progression of the day. That said, there are penalties for upsetting the status quo - you may lose your job, get beaten or killed. Stoking that fear is how the powerful keep most people from daring to protest.

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I'm just glad the steelers decided to stay in the locker room the whole game and let the awful bears beat them.

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They're not protesting unfair treatment that they specifically and personally face all the time. They are representing other minorities in America that face discrimination on a daily basis using their platform as athletes to start a conversation

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Sorry in advance for the rather long post :)

Freedom of speech is something we cherish in this country because not many countries grant the level of freedom that we have in the US. It is something to be proud of and something that gives all of us a voice in this country.

That being said, as citizens just as we exercise freedom of speech, we also have a duty to respect the symbols of this very country that grants us the freedoms. The anthem and the flag are symbols of our nation - meant to evoke pride in and respect for our nation.

If players want to make a difference and be role models, then there are so many avenues they have to register their protest. That is yet another right very few countries offers its citizens. They make obscene amounts of money - how about donating their money to empower communities, organizing or joining actual protest marches, getting involved in politics to bring change, doing something substantial.

Protesting the national anthem and the flag are just symbolic and obviously their way of just gaining attention and feeding their egos without doing anything of actual value. And in the process they are disrespecting symbols of national pride and instilling a mindset of disrespect and hate for the country. What's next? Burn the flag as a sign of protest and call it free speech? If someone gets used to protesting the anthem, the flag...the country itself, when the time comes, how will that person possibly have feelings of national pride all of a sudden? This is evidenced by players protesting the anthem in London today - outside the country they are ambassadors of the US and its people, yet they shamed the entire nation with their actions and somehow we are supposed to cheer them? The symbols of the nation will always be associated with feelings of disrespect and protest in their minds. When it comes time to represent the nation (like in London today), or defend the nation how will you possibly show respect for something that clearly you can't respect?

The players are not doing something that should be cheered. They are insulting the very nation that provides them with rights and freedoms. They choose to not do anything substantial and as misguided role models with tremendous media visibility they are causing more harm to the nation by promoting hatred and disrespect for the country.

Discrimination in all forms is wrong. It should be protested, it should be resisted. At the same time, in humanity , discrimination in some shape or form will always exist. It is our duty as a society to identify them and fight against them and correct them with dialogue and action instead of purely symbolic gestures promoting disrespect for the country. Discrimination will exist as long as there is a divide...female vs male, racial divides, rich vs poor, beautiful vs ugly, fat vs thin, gay vs straight, religious divides, legal vs illegal, powerful vs weak, old vs young, Trump opposers vs supporters, etc. are just some forms of division that exist today and I have seen or experienced discrimination in each of those divides. And there will be newer forms...it is one of the unfortunate traits of being human. We need to identify it, rise above it, and take actions to change it. Protesting the nation or symbols of the nation will achieve nothing while at the same time dividing the nation and promoting disrespect for the country that gives you so much.

As a nation we ought to be outraged at this blatant display of disrespect for our country by people that have money, power and visibility to bring change yet choose not to take action.

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@P1, right on. @SM1, with all due respect I don't think you **get** what respecting the country really means.

Like P1 I'm a vet, and served on two deployments in two different conflicts. I took an oath to defend the constitution, and protest is among the most important rights it established. By weighing in on this our POTUS has changed this from an employer/employee dispute to an issue of free speech rights.

I would be much, much more offended by the suppression protest speech because of govt influence and bullying than by flag burning, kneeling, etc. Those rights are what I was putting my life at risk for....and seriously, wouldn't I have been a fool to be willing to get shot at over a song or a piece of fabric?? And before you try to explain what they represent please tell me you're a vet, or stfu. (Note: I only apply this standard because this has been framed as 'supporting the troops' without ever checking in w said troops).

Lastly, please hire an editor, your posts are too long.

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Un-american is what I call women who won't sleep with me, a veteran.

Support me in ways that actually do something for me I want, don't spew a few words to make yourself sound good around strangers.

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P1 are you saying it's hypocritical to draw attention to a problem if it doesn't affect you directly?

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@D2 If I need to describe to you the systemic racism in this country, I don't know that there's any statistic I can link to that will make you see.
A higher ratio of minorities are killed at the hands of police than no-minorities.
The court system penalizes people with dark skin more harshly than people with lighter skin for the same crimes.
Black neighborhoods are canvassed by police at a higher rate than white neighborhoods.
Black men and women are paid far less than white men and women for the same jobs with the same experience. (Studies have shown re: compensation white men>white women>black men>black women>Hispanic men>Hispanic women)... And on and on.
We have a problem in this country. I don't know how we can fix it. It matters enough for a football player to put his "cushy job" on the line to call it out.

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You're using the wrong "their" there @SC1 so your opinion is invalidated.

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@P1 what does your salary have to do with protesting unfair treatment?

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OP: Nearly everything you just described are factors of poverty or propensity to commit crimes. Black people are killed at a higher ratio because they commit violent crimes at a higher ratio.

In fact, the most recent study on the topic showed that when you control for all factors outside of race, there is no evidence that black people are more likely to be killed or involved in violent interactions with cops...

Last, I would hope that black neighborhoods have more cops in them... they tend to be poorer and have higher crime rates. Now much is this is rooted is past racism that caused the socioeconomic stratification, but not in modern racism.

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My post has nothing to do with Trump. This was happening before he even said anything.

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