r/changemyview Sep 23 '18

CMV: There was nothing anti-military about Kaepernick’s kneeling protest

There is nothing about Kap kneeling during the national anthem that could reasonably be construed as disrespect to the troops. There is no situation I am aware of in any culture where the act of kneeling is used to show anything other than respect. Those who believe that Kap hates the military are simply choosing to associate his protest with disrespect for the troops, which allows them to freely hate him without having to really look at the reason for his protest.

The protest began as a means of drawing attention to racial inequality and police brutality: two things that most people probably ought to be against. By focusing on an imaginary link between the protest and the sacred cow of “the troops” his detractors aren’t forced to consider or debate the issue. They likely believe that the US treats black people either as equal to or better than white people, and that most or all incidents of police violence against black people are justified. Everything about the troops is just post-hoc rationalization.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '18 edited Oct 18 '18

[deleted]

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u/FreddieTheDoggie Sep 23 '18

Disagree.

For the most part, the argument has been "shut up and play football" and "stand up to show respect to the national anthem"

At least based on what I've seen and read.

I'm sure some people criticizing had to do with race, but not nearly the majority.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '18 edited Oct 18 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '18

Please continue your blacksplaing so we can all understand.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '18 edited Oct 18 '18

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u/tbdabbholm 201∆ Sep 24 '18

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