I’ve been taking notes, and this is what I’ve been hearing and what I’ve been seeing about NFL players kneeling during the American National anthem.
White:
“Stop doing this! You are disrespecting the military, and what our men fought for”
POC: “that’s gas-lighting. We have men and women in the military, we are not kneeling out of disrespect for them, they fight for our rights towards free speech, and we are using the rights they have fought for”
White: “then why are you kneeling you SOB?! You should be fired”
POC: “I’m kneeling to bring awareness of some of the struggles we are still facing”
White: “you are just causing division!!!”
POC: “we already feel divided”
White: “you are causing unrest!!!”
POC “we’ve never felt at rest”
White: “you’re just being trouble makers and toddlers ruining sports events”
POC ” we need a platform to be heard, we need to be heard, we are doing this peacefully, we need help to bring change”
White: “there’s nothing wrong with your lives!
Everyone has it hard, you’re just like everyone else! Stop whining and lying!”
POC “we are just like everyone else and we want to be treated like everyone else. But we’re not, that’s why we are kneeling”
White “find another way to speak out! We don’t like this way! We’ll have your jobs! We’ll make you pay for this!”
POC “exactly”
I feel like I keep reading Green Eggs and Ham over and over again. People of color are like Sam, and they are looking for ways to share and speak, And they are being told,
“I do not like it here, I do not like it there, I do not like it ANYWHERE! now you let us be!!”
withstandingthesiege 