Posted on 05/27/2021 6:27:18 AM PDT by Kaslin
Wherever we turn, race is the issue. Any problem that we face, race must be at the root of it. At least, that’s the way it feels in America these years. Any outcome that we do not like, any narrative that we reject, any person with whom we have a problem – all of it must be traced back to race.
This is as dishonest as it is destructive, and if we really care about equality and justice, we had better reevaluate our strategy, and we had better do it quickly.
I’m reminded of a humorous story my dad told me when I was a boy, a story meant to highlight how, as Jews, we could perceive all rejection as an expression of antisemitism.
The story focused on a Jewish man who was interested in getting a job as a radio announcer, but he was a terrible stutterer. And my dad would tell the story in a painfully slow way, reflecting the serious speech obstacles faced by this Jewish man.
So, the man goes with another Jewish friend to the radio studio, eager to interview for the job. He then goes in to meet with the executive team while his friend waits for him outside.
After some time, the man comes out and his friend asks him, “So, how did it go?”
He replies, “W-w-w-w-ell, th-th-th-th-ey d-d-d-don’t l-l-l-like J-j-j-j-jews.”
I trust you get the point. Jew hatred was not the issue. The man’s speech impediment was the issue. Radio announcing was not for him.
(Since we can’t be too careful these days, please understand that I am not intending to belittle those with speech impediments or to mock stutterers. I was simply relating a relevant story. Fair enough?)
In the same way today, if a qualified Asian person is chosen for a job over an unqualified person of color, it is a clear example of racism. Obviously!
Or if a mass shooter turns out to be white, this is another example of white supremacy, even if all his victims were white. (If any were people of color, then, without any possible dispute, this was a manifestation of white supremacy.)
And on and on it goes.
The latest example comes from the NFL, where Tim Tebow (who is white) has been given a one-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight-end, despite being out of the league for 9 years and despite playing quarterback, rather than tight end, in the past.
Yet black quarterback Colin Kaepernick, famous for being the first to take a knee in protest during the National Anthem, has never been rehired by the NFL. This, we have been told incessantly, is obviously race-based. It’s as clear as black and white.
As black sports commentator Stephen A. Smith opined with reference to Tebow, “When we see someone of a different ilk, of a different ethnicity, getting opportunities we know we would never get, that’s where the words white privilege come from. … There’s no way to eradicate white privilege without white individuals giving up some of their privilege.”
Really? Well, where was Tebow’s white privilege when no team would sign him for almost 10 years, despite his massive popularity with the fans?
It is true that he was one of the best college quarterbacks of all time and had occasional flashes of brilliance in the pros.
The problem was that, overall, he did not seem to be cut out to play quarterback in the NFL, an environment that is quite different from the college level. In fact, some other, notable college stars did not do well in the NFL, so Tebow was hardly the first.
Perhaps we should have claimed that he was not hired because he was white? Perhaps we should have played the race card on his behalf?
Sarcasm aside, as a terrific athlete, Tebow reinvented himself as a tight end to the point that the Jaguars are willing to give him a shot. If he plays well, he’ll be on the team. If not, he’ll be off. It’s that simple.
As for Kaepernick, the big issue was not the controversy surrounding his apparent disrespect for the anthem. Rather, it was the fact that his own game degenerated, and he quickly went from hero to goat.
That was the issue, since the NFL, ultimately, is about winning and making money. Had he been playing at the top level of his game, he would have remained in the NFL. Color was not the issue.
Why am I so sure about this? It’s because almost two-thirds of all NFL players are black. (That number might even be higher if we focus only on full-time, starting positions.)
It’s because almost all of the leading running backs and receivers in NFL history have been black. (The same can be said about other, key positions on each team.) It’s because an increasing number of top quarterbacks are people of color, including Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. (Mahomes’ father is black and both of Jackson’s parents are black.) It’s because, along with the NBA, the NFL has the highest percentage of black players of any of the major professional leagues.
Getting back to Kaepernick, sportswriter Jack Dougherty analyzed his NFL stats, focusing on his last year of play. Dougherty concluded, “The closest QB to Kaepernick’s numbers in his final season was Brock Osweiler, who is now out of the NFL too. Kaepernick simply didn’t play well enough to warrant a starting job after 2017.”
Add to that the controversy that surrounded him and the self-centered way he approached reentry to the league, and it’s obvious why other teams wouldn’t touch him.
Let’s step back, then, and take a deep breath, recognizing that not everything is about race. (Really now, we don’t even know if the tragic killing of George Floyd, which certainly highlighted police brutality, had anything to do with race.)
For me, the big issue with the overplaying of the race card is that the strategy serves only to divide us more deeply, with constant battles being fought now over CRT or intersectionality or the 1619 project. This only deepens the divides and increases the mistrust and the acrimony.
Instead, with honestly and humility, as fellow Americans, we need to say, “Let’s work together for a better America for everyone, especially where inequities prevail.”
On this point, the vast majority of us would agree.
It’s the Marxist plan. Normally they go for class warfare, but it didn’t work in the US because the middle class was too comfortable.
So they are settling, now, for racial warfare instead.
Blacks see videos of cops shooting “unarmed” black men and think it is a crisis, when it is more rare every year.
Whites see videos of black mobs beating white people and asians and think blacks are a bunch of feral humans, and all the crime they are seeing is being committed by black people, even though that is not true.
i.e. both sides are being conditioned to hate the other.
The article forgets to not that the NFL scheduled a tryout session for Kap a couple of years ago to give him a possible 2nd chance and he refused to show up at the last second.
“Wherever we turn, race is the issue.”
Not among my friends, relatives or co-workers.
The news media reports, or claims, that the quoted statement is true.
Is the media reporting that race is a widespread concern, meaning a large proportion of citizens think so, or is the media leading us to believe it.
An those that think race is “the issue”, are they thinking that because of what they see with their own eyes, or are they thinking that because the media says so.
And then there’s our government that is keeping racial issues on their front burner.
Also, I have a Ruger 380 pistol in my pocket everywhere I go.
I have that exact same pistol, with a particularly lethal load. Fits in my pocket and nobody knows.
The Blacks/Dems/Media are promoting racism. Just watch a few minutes of race agitator gayle King and you will see.
I think he implicitly referenced that incident when he noted Kap’s “self-centered way he approached reentry to the league.”
Correct. Divide and Conquer.
Great.
I also have a Ruger 9mm pistol with a 30 round mag on the seat beside me (under a towel) in my truck.
(My friends call that gun my Rodney King gun)
One should note that Tim still has to make the team through training camp. He is merely being given an opportunity - just as Kap was.
Glock 19 here. I wanted a 17, but I just inherited the 19 last year. It’s great. It came with a couple of 32 round magazines too, just in case I want to go all GTA. ;)
EXACTLY.
I recently came across this 1963 vision/prophecy by Kenneth E. Hagin: “And I looked again, and I could see upon the mountain a blotch, as though a bottle of ink had been spilled and spread out over several states in the south and east. And then I looked and I could see spots splotched all over the map and I said, "Lord, what meaneth this?" And He said, "Communistic inspired hatred among races shall cause greater turmoil than your nation has seen heretofore. Yea, it is not the will of God but men's hearts are perverse and they walk without the love of God and seek to have their own way. And so it shall be worse than you have seen.”
Here’s the prior paragraph: “For there came a dark hand up out of the ocean from the east, even from the Atlantic Ocean. It came up out of the sea as a hand and as it rose up into the air it became a dark cloud and it filled the whole atmosphere. Yea, and it swept in like a storm at sea. And I said, "Oh Lord! Oh Lord! Oh Lord! What's the meaning of this?" And He spake unto me and said, “Son, that is the darkness of atheistic communism that is sweeping across the nation—even in the minds of men in high places and politicians with great power. And this nation shall not grow more strong and you shall not have more liberty than you have now, but liberties that you've known and you've seen shall be seized and taken from you.”
There’s more, but these are the parts about communism. http://garycarpenter.org/PDF/KennethHagin1963Prophecy.pdf
BLM and it’s fellow travellers are setting race relations back by about 80 years.
Interesting. One thing that really destroys its credibility, though: Speaking in King James English in a vision smacks of contrived sensationalism.
Nevertheless, I’m checking out the link.
I knew in the 80s when they started teaching our children that the USA was a ‘salad bowl’ where each different component makes it great and NOT a ‘melting pot’ that steals a person’s ethnic ancestry and identity that we were in trouble.
Kaepernick said no, Tebow said yes.
What was suppose to happen? Was Kaepernick suppose to be dragged out on to the tryout field by his hair?
I would have found it amusing but our dear professional whinny butts would have had a fit.
Like their slave-owning ancestors, the Dems never had anything but their fat mouths to keep the blacks on the Plantation. Ignorance, fear and a wagging jawbone - that’s it.
Donald Trump gave blacks (and everyone) a real offer of opportunity and prosperity through jobs. It cost the Dems enough of the black vote to lose them the last election, so they cheated openly.
The Dems and their media toadies are still trying to recover the only way they know how.
I agree with most of what you say, especially on who the beneficiaries are. However there is another issue that no one wants discuss but has been an underlying issue for generations. Blacks and their enablers need to have someone to blame for their failure to move into the middle class, remaining in crime infested slums of their own making. “It’s whiteys fault! The man prevent us from getting ahead.” Not so . Some get out on their own. They are not dependent on the largess of ‘whitey’. They have succeeded where most have failed. And it shown repeatedly that throwing more and more money at the problem does not fix the problem. And we keep repeating what does not work. It only helps to keep democrats elected. That is what boggles the mind.
I believe that blacks are perfectly capable to taking care of themselves and can in time grow into the middle class. Immigrants from all over the world have been doing this for generations. Blacks can do it also if only we quit apologizing for their failure and quit trying help.
Kaepernick does not want a team to sign him up for quarterback. He wants an issue to further the racial divide. That is why he did not show up for the tryouts but relocated himself to another field. He doesn’t want a job he wants an issue to support Black Lives Matter.
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