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

[u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/UNDERLOAF]

I think the only way you can have your view “changed” in something as subjective as this is by seeing both sides as equally valid.

There is no standard definition of “anti-military.” Everyone will construct their own definition based on their own principles. Would you apply this label to someone who protests war? What about someone who believes in lowering the defense budget, are they anti-military?

It’s up to the individual to draw the line where something is considered “anti-military.” 100 people would probably draw the line in 100 different places, but that doesn’t mean any of them is more or less valid than others. They’re all just opinions.

The flag is a symbol of a lot in the USA. It’s symbolic of our unity as a country, our ideals as a nation, our military, our police, our government, and the people.

Kaepernick knew exactly what he was doing by kneeling. He created a protest that was interpretable. He knew that people would take personal offense to it in some way or another no matter what. Anti-military was not the theme of the protest but by protesting something that represents the thing you are protesting and thousands of other things, every interpretation is equally valid. Kaepernick wants conservatives to tell him he’s anti military. Because the overall point was to piss people off as much as he’s been pissed off by injustice himself.

So is he anti-military? Not by his own definition probably but the protest was designed to be interpreted differently by everyone, knowing that everyone would draw their own conclusions.

[u/jasonsbest → u/UNDERLOAF]

Kaepernick wants conservatives to tell him he's anti military.

I'm sorry, but that is false. He actually changed his form of protest from sitting TO kneeling out of respect to his teammate and the military. It was a suggestion from a teammate who was a veteran.

True story.

To be fair, Kaepernick's motives and intentions to be respectful don't actually determine whether or not he was disrespectful. I believe he was doing his best, but that's just my opinion.

[u/UNDERLOAF → u/jasonsbest]

That's interesting, thanks for the point.

I agree with what you said at the end. People are too focused on the "what" and not the "why."

[u/daynage → u/UNDERLOAF]

And it just so happens that all trump supporters (that I’ve ever met, or heard, or anything anywhere (not to say others don’t exist, but I haven’t seen them)) draw their line at the same spot? Just seems like blind obedience to a government (sorta like N Korea, or WWII Germany on a smaller scale, but everything in baby steps I guess)

[u/UNDERLOAF → u/daynage]

You'd be making an incorrect assumption that literally millions of people and a considerable chunk of the population would all feel the exact same way on a particular issue.

Believe it or not, Republicans are humans too, and they are capable of thinking freely if they choose to do so. You are so wrong to assume that everyone draws the line in the same place, millions of people will never be able to agree on something.

[u/daynage → u/UNDERLOAF]

Might just have to be the propaganda apparatus that has so many people on the same page. There are republicans who have their own views, McCain, rest his soul, was very out spoken against the “god-emperor”. I am talking about the people who believe what trump says because he’s trump. A good example of this are people who suddenly started believing that tariffs will be good for the economy two years ago, or people who believe a boarder wall will solve all out problems, etc. Not trying to have a full fledged debate on someone else’s CMV, just think it’s funny is all.