And I stand by my belief there are better ways to "get the conversation going." CC, you keep saying "not people on this board" as if those of my thinking are unique, and that those against Kaepernick are largely inconsiderate, thoughtless, insensitive, and either overtly or passively racist. Do those people exist? Sure they do. But lets not define the entire group by the few (where have I heard that before?).
I never implied, nor should you infer that your thinking is unique, nor that the attitude I referenced is "few" - I don't doubt that many follow your thought, unfortunately, many also follow what I outlined - not just in NC, but in other places I have been lately (PA, NJ, FL, KY).
As far as the overall effectiveness of the protest, it was effective in helping to raise the conversation - not effective then in your book - fine - we simply disagree. Where it failed (from my perspective), as I acknowledged earlier, is in the follow through. But let's also acknowledge that if all he had done was help fund and promote a "cop committee" he would have been nominated for the Art Rooney Award, but the message would have been limited to a few moments between plays on Monday Night Football.
Where Kaepernick did progress the situation is in having athletes, actors, celebrities use their position to take part in national discussion. While many (yes, many) still respond with the "shut up, and just play the game." More folks will move to the "fine, so what are you going to do about it" perspective that you embrace. It is easy to rail against the situation, but harder to provide solutions, but as athletes, actors, etc. take up more causes, they will progress more towards the "solutions" end as well.
The reality is that we just elected a celebrity as our next President and he spent the last 18 months railing against the status quo and the need to Make America Great Again, with limited specific solutions. So I don't think we can hold Kaepernick too at fault for not progressing specifics.
Let's hope the new sheriff coming into town in January makes things better.
How ironic that we in North Carolina DID vote in a new sheriff, but the deputies and constables are stripping his power. Some then yell "Federalist" yet, the foundation of the Federalist movement was the fear that big government would overrule the people. The actual power in Federalist view is as local as possible, yet, MY representatives in Raleigh continue to centralize the power stripping away the power of local communities. This latest scheme is simply a progression of the past 24 months (toll roads, HB2 (commonly known as the "bathroom bill" - but also know here as the "minimum wage bill"), McCrory's police video bill, and his continued coziness with Duke Energy, his former employer (in fact, it is that "relationship" that did him in more than HB2).
Bottom line, fed up, we voted in a new Governor. But the legislation is putting party and ideology ahead of the people.
Is what the NC legislature doing legal and an "on the books" method? Yes, but that does not make it ethical. Anyone that believed in the need to "drain the swamp" because of the ethics in DC certainly can not defend the ethics in Raleigh.
FYI if you want to google it the next line of defense the legislature is using is "Yea, but Jim Martin in the '80s." Of course Jim Martin has cone out and said this legislature is going way to far.
As far as our "National" sheriff. Unlike the idiots who spent the past 8 years declaring "Obama is not my President" Donald Trump has been elected our President - it will be official later today - he will be my President. While I hope that he will preside over the country in a personal manner that we expect from our leaders (though not always delivered - Clinton, Nixon), and establish policies (domestic and foreign) that well best serve our country as a whole, not the pocket or power of a few, his "President-elect" days have not provided many indications as such. Here is praying for the good of our country that he gets his act together and makes things better.