Tonight, San Francisco 49er quarterback once again refused to stand during the National Anthem prior to an exhibition game in San Diego. he was booed by the crowd.
At this point, I think Kaepernick should be fined and suspended-not by the NFL-rather by the 49ers. The reason is not because he refused to stand for the National Anthem once again. Here is the reason:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/49ers/2016/09/01/police-reaction-colin-kaepernick-pig-socks-san-francisco/89715672/
When this jerk steps onto a practice field in 49er garb and wears socks portraying cops as pigs, that crosses the boundary. Off the field in civvies is bad enough, but now he has put his team in a position of seemingly putting its imprimatur on Kapernick's political views. It is time for 49er coach Chip Kelly and the 49er brass to put on their big boy pants and take action. Kelly should have chased him off the field as soon as he saw what Kapernick was wearing.
In addition, it looks like other players are starting to mimic Kaepernick's actions. This morning, I listened to a radio interview of sports agent Lee Steinberg, who had some very perceptive comments. He pointed out that sports stadiums are places that attract fans from all walks of life and all ethnicities. They are united by their interest in the games and the teams. They are not there to attend political events, many of which might make them feel uncomfortable. If this is what our sports events are going to degenerate into, then why continue going to the stadiums?
Kaepernick should restrict his political statements to off the field. Wearing socks that portray cops as pigs while practicing with his team has put the 49ers in a bad position. For this specific action, the 49ers should fine and suspend him.
I have no sympathy for people who boo at Kaepernick. I also don't have any real sentiment about every darn sports event beginning with playing the national anthem. He has put himself into a bit of a box. If he EVER does stand for the National Anthem, it will become Big News and characterized as some sort of Capitulation or Betrayal. Whereas, if he did it ONCE, it would have been a brief, poignant, moment of protest. Now he HAS to keep it up, with all that that entails.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago I heard a story about referencing police officers as pigs. It originated in Ireland. England didn't entirely trust native Irish police, so they sent over quite a few from England. It was not a desirable job, so it tended to be rural lads with poor prospects who signed up. A lot of them were from Shropshire, and a lot of them had big cheeks, paunches, and VERY pink faces. To the Irish, they resembled pigs. The cry was "Up the Irish, off the English, of the pig."
Which is why it doesn't really translate very well into the American context, where a large portion of the police have traditionally been Irish, and they look all kinds of different ways, and if you hear someone shout "Off the pig!" you think of your son-in-law Clarence.