Kaep
- Thread starter Miggs
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fgcamel
Well-Known Member
Lol I agree with this so much. Here in New Zealand we are nowhere near as bad, but we did have a referendum recently to change our flag, and people started to get all emotional about it. I mean seriously, it's the equivalent of a profile picture for your country, it's literally just an image to quickly identify where something comes from. But it is used as this nationalist tool with all the "oh these people died for this flag blah blah blah", not my type of logic.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
I don't have a problem with people having an immense respect for the flag, vets, being overly nationalistic, etcetera, etcetera. Hell, I myself have some of that with at least five relatives who have served. I just find it comical that people sit there on one hand as some proud patriot and on the other want him to shut up as if the first amendment doesn't exist. You can't have it both ways, morons. And let's be honest, if Peyton Manning had sat down to make the same statement (for blacks), we'd applaud him and say he had courage and so forth. I think the backlash shows just how ignorant, dumb, and/or racist much of our country really is.
Jonah
Well-Known Member
It’s not a Castro shirt or a shirt that just depicts Castro. It’s a Malcolm X meets with Castro in Harlem shirt. The optics may still be bad but I think Kaepernick understands the story behind the meeting depicted on this shirt more than most.
The meeting was in 1960, shortly after the Cuban revolution and, obviously, before Castro went on to commit the worst of his crimes. At the meeting Castro spoke out against black oppression, this was four years before the Civil Rights Act and still a year before the last documented lynching in the United States, so it should be easy to understand why he was warmly received in Harlem and why the meeting is seen as iconic to many in the black community.
I'm going to make a guess here and suppose that to Kaepernick the shirt illustrates that more than fifty years ago Malcolm X was inviting foreign leaders to Harlem to speak out against black oppression and yet it still continues, to the extent that he wants to do his own small part by sitting down while others stand. Just a guess. Not saying I know for sure.
LogGrad98
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qft, or whatever the cool kids say nowadays.
Wait, the same Colin Kaepernick who was fined for calling another player a "f**king n**ger"?
I agree with the first amendment part and morons.
But personally, I'd think the same if Manning did it.
RJF
Well-Known Member
The same one.
Lol I guess the "n word" isn't racist to you?
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Joe Bagadonuts
Well-Known Member
If Manning did that he'd be crucified.
Depends on the context.
Just because you did some racist things doesnt mean you are a racist and it doesnt ban you from having the stance Kaepernick is choosing to have.
Then again, I'm probably the least 'patriotic' dude there is. Anti-American enough to put patriotic in quotes.
I put tremendous value in the sense of patriotism as identifying with and protecting a culture essential to my life here on earth, but I feel like the word 'patriotism' can be used (like many other political buzz words) to promote and justify shallow and irrational thought, which leads to sharp divides between individuals and unfounded justification or antagonization of people and/or ideas.
I put tremendous value in the sense of patriotism as identifying with and protecting a culture essential to my life here on earth, but I feel like the word 'patriotism' can be used (like many other political buzz words) to promote and justify shallow and irrational thought, which leads to sharp divides between individuals and unfounded justification or antagonization of people and/or ideas.
JimLes
Well-Known Member
Every time I go to the USA, my wife and I play the game where we count American flags we see that are not on federal or state property. That includes private homes, restaurants, stores, churches, etc. We entered at Babb and were driving to Yellowstone. We stopped to have a break in Augusta and we stopped counting after that. We had seen about 50 flags. Again, not on government property, but on private homes and business. Now, if you live in Montana, you know we drove through no city of importance and through very few settlements period. And other than a couple of houses with flags purposely hanging upside down(!), you also probably know that not one of circa 50 was in Browning.
And it's not a problem, it's just weird. People don't put flags on homes in Canada very much(those who do tend to be right-wing and Americophiles), and in Croatia, not at all. I can vouch for both of these. The only time you see flags in Croatia is on their Independence Day or if they're playing major rivals in soccer. And I'm sure that July 29th wasn't a holiday in the US, nor were you playing Soviet Union in any sport. I'm just wondering why the need to put a flag outside your door in a small town in Montana? Who are you showing it off to?
Hey an important thing you might wanna realize is the close relationship between the flag and the military. Knowing this and then comparing the US to Canada or Croatia is kind of silly. The US military is ****ing massive compared to both those countries combined, is ubiquitous, and has way way more people die serving it than those other places. Not to disagree with your point of view of anything, but the flag and the military kinda go hand in hand here. That's important to keep in mind.
Douchebag K
Well-Known Member
Very few people in Australia fly our flag from their house but i don't have a problem with the amount of flag flying Americans do. It's just different cultural values and expression, Americans generally know a lot more about their history and are generally more fiercly patriotic than most other countries.
We're more relaxed and low key about national pride, then again i doubt many Australians could name more than 3 or 4 of our past Prime Ministers or name key days in our history, so maybe we're more indifferent and apathetic.
We're more relaxed and low key about national pride, then again i doubt many Australians could name more than 3 or 4 of our past Prime Ministers or name key days in our history, so maybe we're more indifferent and apathetic.
JimLes
Well-Known Member
Right. I forgot Americans know everything about the world. Like how Croatia, according to government statistics, has just over half a million registered veterans. Out of a total male population of around 2 million. Brutal war of independence in the early 90s will do that. Silly me, comparing Murica to Croatia.
And their flag and military go hand in hand? Their flag is a symbol that is essentially synonymous with the military? They have a long standing culture of displaying their flag out in public?
All I did was point out a cultural aspect of America that you didn't seem to know much about. You're thing about flags is like me saying, "Hey, I went to Canada and everyone said, 'eh' What's the point of that? Who wants to hear them say 'eh'!!!!????"
It's just a different culture than your ice covered moose brain is familar with. I was trying to enlighten you on this aspect of American culture. I tend not to pass judgement so quickly, but it appears you really are a giant dick as many say.