Nebraska's Michael Rose-Ivey receives racial backlash for anthem protest

[GBRHouston]

• If they are being oppressed, then why do they have the freedom to take a knee? A few bad apples should not be the cause for senseless behavior.

This is very, very poor mental gymnastics. Just because someone has freedoms, doesn't mean they have the same amount of them as someone else (and, ironically, Rose-Ivey even specifically addressed this rationale).

Thank you for the response. Correct me if I am wrong, you are saying that not everybody has the same freedoms legally? Everybody has the same amount of freedom, regardless of race or gender. Like I believe I said, freedom of speech means you cannot legally be arrested or convicted because of what you say. All US citizens get the same amount of freedom. If you mean in the minds of other people, then like I said before, it's nearly impossible to change the mindsets of other people.

 

[Undone]

All US citizens get the same amount of freedom. If you mean in the minds of other people, then like I said before, it's nearly impossible to change the mindsets of other people.

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. Rose-Ivey is setting out to face that very challenge.

 

[zoogs]

Why do we think all US citizens get the same amount of freedom?

 

[Dbqgolfer]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

 

[knapplc]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

It's a process.

 

[Saunders]

There’s that thing where the church asks you to speak on what’s weighing on your heart. So.

BE THERE FOR THEM. On the long list of things we shortchange student-athletes on, the last thing should be compassion, understanding, and love.

I don’t want to hear a sarcastic “best fans in football” off this. There is no winner in the Fanbase Racism Sweepstakes. Your school or community is right there, and there are people in it whose patriotism and self-identity is so weak and insecure that they will lash out for the rite and symbol over the flesh-and-blood person, and the very freedom their protest symbolizes. They will not recognize that the act of protest during that moment validates the importance of the anthem, the game, and the community collected around it.

They will anonymously threaten a young black man who works for terrible wages for their entertainment. You can start with George Foster, former UGA lineman, here...






...or you can just watch Michael Rose-Ivey and hear how hurt he is. That is the part that breaks my heart here, before I start thinking about all the other heartbreaking things beyond a young football player standing at a podium. He’s hurt because the people that by uniform and affiliation are supposed to be his tribe turned on him not through disagreement in civil discourse, but by denying him his basic humanity.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2016/9/27/13074866/the-curious-index-9-27-16

Interesting look at the subject from Spencer Hall of EDSBS fame.

 

[Landlord]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

Just on Huskerboard and Facebook alone I've seen at least a half dozen people say something along the lines of, "you know, at first this didn't sit right with me, but after hearing him talk about it and thinking through it i see things a lot differently." That's progress, and that's already worth what he did.

 

[Undone]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

While the point you're trying to make is not lost on me at all, and I actually do care about the issue Michael is putting out there, I just want to say that I've been so adamant about the right to protest simply to hopefully shut up the people claiming that "they shouldn't be allowed to do this."

Because that's just, like, really stupid to believe.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

While the point you're trying to make is not lost on me at all, and I actually do care about the issue Michael is putting out there, I just want to say that I've been so adamant about the right to protest simply to hopefully shut up the people claiming that "they shouldn't be allowed to do this."

Because that's just, like, really stupid to believe.

Between the "football players should just focus on football" crowd, 'Murica derpers, and flat-out racists, it's been hard to focus on the real issue being brought up by MRI and others. Right now, those individuals have done a great job of bringing awareness to the issue, the next step is to discuss the issue further and see what solutions can be agreed upon.

 

[knapplc]

It's not surprising the message is getting lost at this point. First, unfortunately, we have to secure the rights of the protesters to protest. Once that basic lesson on American rights is learned again, then we'll progress on to the message.

Even if we do nothing other than securing the right to protest, this will have been a stand worth taking.

 

[Huskerford1]

• If they are being oppressed, then why do they have the freedom to take a knee? A few bad apples should not be the cause for senseless behavior.

This is very, very poor mental gymnastics. Just because someone has freedoms, doesn't mean they have the same amount of them as someone else (and, ironically, Rose-Ivey even specifically addressed this rationale).

100 percent agree with landlord. Look up white privilege. It is a very real thing I have seen just between me and my black wife living here in the Sioux city area and it boils my blood

 

[Dbqgolfer]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

While the point you're trying to make is not lost on me at all, and I actually do care about the issue Michael is putting out there, I just want to say that I've been so adamant about the right to protest simply to hopefully shut up the people claiming that "they shouldn't be allowed to do this."

Because that's just, like, really stupid to believe.

Between the "football players should just focus on football" crowd, 'Murica derpers, and flat-out racists, it's been hard to focus on the real issue being brought up by MRI and others. Right now, those individuals have done a great job of bringing awareness to the issue, the next step is to discuss the issue further and see what solutions can be agreed upon.

Just to be clear, I didn't just mean MRI or Huskerboard. I meant ever since the protests started, it seems like the majority of the conversations everywhere I've seen have been about the protests and free speech, not the underlying issues.

 

[Huskerford1]

Has anyone else noticed that the only conversation these protests have started is a conversation about the protests themselves and first amendment rights, not the issue that the protesters wanted the conversation to be about.

While the point you're trying to make is not lost on me at all, and I actually do care about the issue Michael is putting out there, I just want to say that I've been so adamant about the right to protest simply to hopefully shut up the people claiming that "they shouldn't be allowed to do this."

Because that's just, like, really stupid to believe.

Between the "football players should just focus on football" crowd, 'Murica derpers, and flat-out racists, it's been hard to focus on the real issue being brought up by MRI and others. Right now, those individuals have done a great job of bringing awareness to the issue, the next step is to discuss the issue further and see what solutions can be agreed upon.

Just to be clear, I didn't just mean MRI or Huskerboard. I meant ever since the protests started, it seems like the majority of the conversations everywhere I've seen have been about the protests and free speech, not the underlying issues.

The underlying issue is racial inequality, systemic racism, and white privelege are still too prevalent in 2016 for a "civilized" society

 

[zoogs]

I don't think you're wrong about the majority of conversations, Dbq. knapp and Husk make good points, though.

Part of the reason the protests are so important is that there are people who don't even recognize their right to do it. So we have to have that conversation. Then we brush up against the ones who don't recognize their issues as real. And on and on we go.

I was going to say, I think a lot of important, substantive conversation *has* been happening as a result of this. And I think a great many people have responded very positively, and learned a lot, much to their credit. It's just that it's easy to lose sight of this when there's also this volume of basic miss-the-point talk elsewhere. It's hard. "I agree with their right to do this, but it's disgraceful" is about as far as many are willing to go. But that doesn't describe everyone, and in any case, it's a start.

 

[84HuskerLaw]

The essence of the issue most people have, in my view, with the BLM protests and the national athem 'protests' if you want to call them that, is that the message being sent by these 'protesters' is that All whites are racists! That is very insulting to most whites who are NOT racists. To call someone as nasty and wrong as being a racist when they are in fact not racist is as mean and unfriendly as one can get really.

This is where the bulk of Americans are at on the entire subject of Black / White relations. Just as it is NOT racist to oppose mass immigration in to our country when there are literally hundreds of millions of would be 'immigrants' whose primary purpose for coming into this country is to destroy it. We have a country that is struggling mightily just to stay afloat socially, culturally, economically, and nationally and the sheer weight of the flood of non Americans (people whose values and ideas of what a Nation is and ought to be, are vastly different and in many ways diametrically opposed to America and the very spirit and values for which that flag flies high. The spirit and meaning of the flag is basically supportive of the very ideals and presumed goals of the Black lives matter folks. To protest against what you claim to be for is nonsense.