There is an “open” letter to the NFL going around these days. I won’t link to it, because if you have a conservative / populist / authoritarian/ Republican / evangelical friends chances are you either have seen it, or you’ll be seeing it real soon. Plus, I don’t want to give these sites traffic, or get suggestions based on their values. But the gist of it is, you were black, your only strong point was your athleticism (because as a non-white person, you are, of course, classed as bestial), you got into college where you had to be tutored, then into the NFL, then made gazillions, all while your (presumably white) best friend struggled and worked in a fast food joint before joining the army where he managed to protect your country, while you merely managed to drink, drug, and whore it up, and now you have the temerity to take a stand by kneeling, when all the public wanted was to see you play. Shame on you, you damned unpatriotic, colored ingrate.
Riiiiiiiight, where do we start.
First off, why presume so much? Being an athlete is not just a brainless activity, and preferring the outdoors, or sports, to academics does in no way imply that you’re academically unfit. It merely implies that right now you prefer the outdoors, prefer to be an athlete. It says nothing about your mental abilities. Yes, for some – too many in fact – athletic scholarships are the only way out, but let’s not presume that’s always the case.
Secondly, this could not be any more black and white (horrible pun fully intended) if they’d tried. What is it with evangelicals who preach Christian love but constantly forget to turn the other cheek? What part of the memo about loving thy neighbor and (casting) stones went missing and at which point? Pastors are meant to lead their flock (and whatever strays they find) to an ever-loving and forgiving God, not some vile narcissist with a Napoleon complex. Seriously, who is this God they speak of and preach about? Because I sure as anything don’t recognize Him.
Thirdly and finally, but only because this is getting too long. How much more blatantly racist can you be? So, everything is fine as long as you can watch the circus animals perform (because to these white supremacist idiots that’s essentially what footballers are, trained animals there for their pleasure), but let them have the Temerity to voice an opinion, and suddenly you feel threatened. Because now you have to confront the fact that the seemingly docilely trained circus Animal is actually a living, breathing human being with its own mind. Imagine that! Imagine – oh the shock, oh the immense horror – that lowly creature pointing out a fault (or two, or even three) in your behavior. How could he! How in God’s holiest of holy names could he.
