Kaepernick Strikes Again

[theguru]

If 99% of America knows some fringe groups use this flag as a symbol and now prominent people are saying they would be first in line to buy these shoes if Nike sells them, should I be offended, bothered and concerned?

 

Seems like if the right prominent people are saying this then they are empowering these groups even more.

 

I will go with concerned on many levels.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

If 99% of America knows some fringe groups use this flag as a symbol and now prominent people are saying they would be first in line to buy these shoes if Nike sells them, should I be offended, bothered and concerned?

 

Seems like if the right prominent people are saying this then they are empowering these groups even more.

 

You could see it that way, of course. And I'm not saying that would be my personal course of action, at all. But couldn't you also see it as trying to fight back against something being used in a way that it was not intended and trying to reclaim the symbol?

 

Kind of similarly, the German Nazis originally had a pink triangle badge on the sleeves of homosexuals in their ghettos, containment camps, and concentration camps in the 1930s and 1940s....but now the LGBTQ is largely re-adopting the symbol of the pink triangle as a symbol of pride.

[PurplePride92]

You could see it that way, of course. And I'm not saying that would be my personal course of action, at all. But couldn't you also see it as trying to fight back against something being used in a way that it was not intended and trying to reclaim the symbol?

 

Kind of similarly, the German Nazis originally had a pink triangle badge on the sleeves of homosexuals in their ghettos, containment camps, and concentration camps in the 1930s and 1940s....but now the LGBTQ is largely re-adopting the symbol of the pink triangle as a symbol of pride.

 

If that is their true intent shouldn’t they make their intent clear? The person who said it could easily say their intentions to give the flag a clear meaning separate from white nationalists.

[PurplePride92]

Why would anyone want an unfinished American flag anyways? Why would anyone care about the original 13 colonies anyways? We are in KY. That flag doesn’t include KY anyways. I’m supposed to be proud of that flag for Virginia?

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

If that is their true intent shouldn’t they make their intent clear? The person who said it could easily say their intentions to give the flag a clear meaning separate from white nationalists.

 

That would certainly be more productive, yes.

[sportsfan41]

Why would anyone want an unfinished American flag anyways? Why would anyone care about the original 13 colonies anyways? We are in KY. That flag doesn’t include KY anyways. I’m supposed to be proud of that flag for Virginia?

 

Just my opinion, but I feel like that flag represents the beginning of the United States of America. With the 4th of July being the day we celebrate our declaration of independence from Great Britain, it just seems natural that the holiday would be the time to display or celebrate that flag.

[PurplePride92]

Just my opinion, but I feel like that flag represents the beginning of the United States of America. With the 4th of July being the day we celebrate our declaration of independence from Great Britain, it just seems natural that the holiday would be the time to display or celebrate that flag.

 

 

I get that. I just don’t understand the point of celebrating flawed history with flawed relics. Shouldn’t we be celebrating where we are today and moving forward instead of celebrating a time where independence was only granted to certain people?

 

Why should any black person feel proud to celebrate the independence and birth date of the US?

[Voice of Reason]

I get that. I just don’t understand the point of celebrating flawed history with flawed relics. Shouldn’t we be celebrating where we are today and moving forward instead of celebrating a time where independence was only granted to certain people?

 

Why should any black person feel proud to celebrate the independence and birth date of the US?

 

The problem with this approach is humanity has improved constantly throughout history. Every preceding era is worse, especially in human rights than the current era. I have little doubt that 50 years from now, people are going to look at our current era and find many faults that cause them to want to discount today.

 

If we know every preceding era was worse, do we discard any "relics" of that era? Do we disregard powerful positive things that happened because there were bad things in that era? The Declaration of Independence and US Constitution are two of the most powerful documents ever written by man. They provide guidelines for our government 225 years later. They provided a framework of government that eventually led to the end of slavery. The Colonial flag represents that also. Do we discard it because some terrible things were also happening in the world at that time?

[MJAlltheWay24]

and the first thing I thought before researching was that those are some ugly shoes that no one was ever going to buy anyways. This is a win-win for Nike.

 

Man, I thought the same thing too haha!

[PurplePride92]

The problem with this approach is humanity has improved constantly throughout history. Every preceding era is worse, especially in human rights than the current era. I have little doubt that 50 years from now, people are going to look at our current era and find many faults that cause them to want to discount today.

 

If we know every preceding era was worse, do we discard any "relics" of that era? Do we disregard powerful positive things that happened because there were bad things in that era? The Declaration of Independence and US Constitution are two of the most powerful documents ever written by man. They provide guidelines for our government 225 years later. They provided a framework of government that eventually led to the end of slavery. The Colonial flag represents that also. Do we discard it because some terrible things were also happening in the world at that time?

 

 

For me personally it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to discard those relics at all. Including the Bill of Rights and Constitution. But that is my sole perspective. Those things don’t move me the way they do others. My views and takes on patriotism are also way different than most and that may play a large part of my perspective as well.

[TheDeuce]

For me personally it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to discard those relics at all. Including the Bill of Rights and Constitution. But that is my sole perspective. Those things don’t move me the way they do others. My views and takes on patriotism are also way different than most and that may play a large part of my perspective as well.

 

IMO, it's pretty ridiculous that we still look to something that is 225 years old for guidance in today's society.

[rjs4470]

For me personally it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to discard those relics at all. Including the Bill of Rights and Constitution. But that is my sole perspective. Those things don’t move me the way they do others. My views and takes on patriotism are also way different than most and that may play a large part of my perspective as well.

 

My views on "patriotism" are probably different as well. While on one hand we take pride in being a nation built on freedom and values, we are basically brought up in an environment full of nationalistic propaganda. From the Pledge of Allegiance being said every morning in schools, to the playing of the National Anthem at all levels of sporting events, symbols of patriotism are routinely placed in everyday life. To me, it appears that anyone (like Kaepernick) who challenges this indoctrination is labeled as a threat, or someone who is "subversive". The fact that so many just blindly follow, and are hyper-aggressive towards anyone who does think freely, is really a scary proposition. The ability to think freely is one of the things that this country was supposedly founded on. Modern Patriotism is now more often than not, hostile and divisive.

[PurplePride92]

My views on "patriotism" are probably different as well. While on one hand we take pride in being a nation built on freedom and values, we are basically brought up in an environment full of nationalistic propaganda. From the Pledge of Allegiance being said every morning in schools, to the playing of the National Anthem at all levels of sporting events, symbols of patriotism are routinely placed in everyday life. To me, it appears that anyone (like Kaepernick) who challenges this indoctrination is labeled as a threat, or someone who is "subversive". The fact that so many just blindly follow, and are hyper-aggressive towards anyone who does think freely, is really a scary proposition. The ability to think freely is one of the things that this country was supposedly founded on. Modern Patriotism is now more often than not, hostile and divisive.

 

Perfectly written. :thumb:

[Voice of Reason]

IMO, it's pretty ridiculous that we still look to something that is 225 years old for guidance in today's society.

 

The problem is, no one has come up with any better government model is those 225 years. The freedoms we do enjoy today are because of the guidelines presented in those documents.

 

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

 

Life of Reason, 1905, George Santayana

[theguru]

I am going to end this thread with a quote from Rodney King:

 

“Can we all get along?”

 

King’s most poignant and famous quote was uttered in the midst of the rioting. Chosen to speak in a press conference in attempts to quell the ongoing violence, King pleaded, “People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?…It’s just not right. It’s not right.” King was originally handed a lengthy script, but ditched it and spoke from the heart. With a trembling voice, he noted that the rioting was not the answer to the racial discrimination and police brutality, and that it merely worsened the situation. After the fact, King professed in a Los Angeles Times interview that he felt some unwanted pressure to be a civil rights symbol, noting that “People look at me like I should have been like Malcolm X or Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks…But it’s hard to live up to some people’s expectations, which wasn’t cut out to be.”

 

The Life of Rodney King: 7 Memorable Quotes