And if you read about the great polarizing incidents in American history, you will also see that we were initially pulled apart only to see injustice addressed (Brown vs. Board of Education, Little Rock Central, Woolworth's lunch counter, Voting Rights Act of 1965,etc.). The question becomes do we have leadership that can continue to move us in an equitable and righteous direction. With 325+ million people in this country, I would certainly think so.

I agree, Robert. I think the end result will be a permanent decline in pro football viewership (which doesn't bother the liberals at all), and a decline in respect for football players in general. As you point out, he could have done something more positive, something that could have addressed the underlying problem in a way that the problem itself was the subject of discussion, and in the process, increased respect for football and football players. Now, having made his choice, he no longer is in a position to do something constructive. I disagree with Alan. I don't think that this leads to more dialog on the underlying issue, but only to dialog as to whether to watch pro football or not. I do agree with OCF that this moves the needle backwards, not forwards. With the spotlight on players, it takes the focus off the police.

This will be my last post on the subject, because I simply don't care. If pro football players want to kneel during the anthem, that is their right. If people want to not watch, that is their right, too.

No offense taken. Are there/were there better ways to get his point across? Most certainly but there is no doubt that this protest harmed no one and got quite a few people talking about the issues, many on this board included, who might now otherwise have considered the issue. Now let's see if anything happens to improve matters.

Minnesota President's comment that their values are more important than a football game was the last nail in the coffin. Whether it was a crime or not most Minnesotans are likely very unhappy with the behavior. Didn't seem like anyone was throwing support to the players. They are probably lucky the university didn't just cancel the trip and move on.

I know I wasn't going to post on this again, but I didn't see even one person suggest that he keep quiet. I will give him credit for one thing, though. He did a nice job of getting the discussion to move away from police, and now people instead talk about whether or not to support pro football. This thread is typical. There is lots of discussion of Kaepernick, lots on football, and lots on protests, and none on the underlying issues.

No, I read it just fine, and I find it sadly humorous that you feel that you are better suited to judge and advise on what he should have done.

Then, when the national institutions are instituting the change that you don't like, assert 'states' rights.'

Or strip the governor of powers when the other party's candidate is about to take office.

Because conservative/traditional powers/control must be preserved by any available means...even as admonishing the other side to stay in its place, to only use certain means to seek redress.


In America in 2016...sad.

Yes. Where kap messed was on not following up the protest with steps toward a solution that he could help enact. His protest over the flag and national anthem was not only his right, but also effective (in that it got the message out) and an appropriate approach (as it was nonviolent). What I find disappointing is that many (not anyone on this board) upset at Kap's protest of the flag can not pass a citizens test (1 in 3 Americans would flunk), do not know the Constitution ( only 1in 4 know that freedom of religion is part of the first amendment while 1 in 5 think freedom to own a pet is part of the first amendment - sadly I am not making this up). It is easy to be upset when someone uses the flag (a symbol of our country) and doesn't stand for the national anthem in protest. It takes a little bit of effort to know the principles our country actually stands for (including the right to protest against governmental injustices).

And to merge the points made in the posts above. Monroe, I and many others would be ecstatic if every member of the Carolina Panthers took a knee during the national anthem at our game in DC tomorrow night in protest of the coup being carried out in Raleigh. Such a protest would put focus on an injustice that very few know about.

Unbelievable miscarriage of justice, power and position. Let's see, I got beat in the election and now I make up a bunch of rules to hamstring the guy who beat. In addition to the NCAA, I'm hoping others choose not to spend their hard earned money in that state (and that's tough for me to say in that I love to visit Asheville).

The protesters in the 1960s Civil Rights Era planned their protests so that they would have the greatest positive impact. MLK used the U.S. flag as a positive symbol in order to rally people to the ideals that flag represents. In short, MLK and my friend William G. Anderson, D.O., founder of the Albany (Ga.) Movement, used a great deal of intellect in choosing where and when and how to protest so that they would be most likely to achieve the desired goal, which in this case was primarily ending the apartheid society in much of the South. The problem that I have with the current football National Anthem protests is that they do not show the same level of sophistication and planning and are, therefore, much less likely to be ultimately successful. But, I shouldn't be surprised as these are dumb football players (sorry to use a redundant phrase) so anything approaching using reasonable cognitive skills are probably not to be expected except in rare cases.

Yeah, the current football National Anthem protests don't meet your standards..so they are WRONG.

[thank you for the opportunity to go TrumpInDebates here]

WrONG!

Do we have a reading comprehension problem here? Did I say they were wrong? I said they were not well thought out and probably would not reach their intended objective and that other better planned protests might have had a better opportunity of success. I don't believe you can summarize those sentiments with just the word "WRONG" -- even if it's capitalized. I have noticed that subtleties are often lost on you.