Go, Benjamin! Go, Ravens!
Posted on 09/06/2016 6:48:36 AM PDT by cdga5for4
Benjamin Watson 11 hrs · Facebook Mentions · I will not have the option to kneel this Sunday while the National Anthem is being played. A week ago, in what would prove to be my last pre-game opportunity of this 2016 season, I stood with my right hand over my heart as the anthem played. And if I am fortunate enough to ever be dressed for another game day I imagine I would be doing the same thing I did in my last. Standing. Not because America is ALL I desire it to be because most assuredly it is not. Racism still stews, families are fractured, the unborn are trashed, schools are struggling, religious freedom is increasingly under attack, violence pollutes our cities and our suburbs, and there is a growing divide between law enforcement and the community.
I stand, however, because I grew up in NAVY town USA and traveled overseas to support members of our armed forces who follow orders regardless of their personal sentiments. I stand for those who were forced to give their lives building the country that confined them to the tobacco fields and indigo plantations. I stand because as a child, I saw my father stand. A man who lived the tumultuous transition from "separate but equal" to the times surrounding the Civil Rights Act when angry people who held signs at his new school viciously screamed "NIGGER GO HOME!" I stand because on the contrary, no one held such a sign when I walked into my grade school.
Before competition, as I stand in shoulder pads and cleats, my helmet in my left hand, adrenaline flowing and my heart raging under my right, I never forget the ills of America but for a moment I envision its potential, remember its prosperity and give thanks to God for the land He has placed me in and the people I love who live in it.
I stand, because this mixed bag of evil and good is MY home. And because it's MY home my standing is a pledge to continue the fight against all injustice and preserve the greatest attributes of the country, including Colin Kaepernick's right to kneel.
His actions and similar actions by figures of the past and present are a vital part of our journey and a key component of the equation for social change and should be respected as such. From the country's inception, such displays against the status quo are distinctly American. My hope, though, is that these actions bring more attention to the PROBLEM than to the PROTESTOR. And that ensuing dialog discover truth and that truth give birth to justice in legitimate situations where there is none. My hope is that in this time of toil and discord we collectively use our positions in public and private life to take responsibility for our role and collectively seek solutions, not because we HAVE to but because we CARE to. Sometimes listening is of greater value than speaking. As elusive an aspiration as it may be, our goal, especially in the arena of race, should continue to be to create an America where eventually everyone can, in good conscience, stand. No matter the historical context or the present circumstance that is the unity I, perhaps naively, imagine when I see our flag and listen to our anthem.
Conflict when handled correctly strengthens. Conflict when mismanaged destroys.
He is an extremely eloquent man.
He’s really remarkable. He just gets it. I don’t agree with him on everything but he makes me think even on those things I don’t agree.
He is wrong about one thing: there is no “right” to kneel or not stand in this instance. The issue is not at all about free speech since the federal government is not in anyway compelling or restricting speech. This is an issue of private contract law. If his team wishes him to stand they could compel him to do so or be fired (if it is amenable with his contract).
Mr. Watson is 35, tore his Achilles tendon in the first play of the last preseason game, and is out for the season, perhaps out for his NFL career.
Beautiful. This land was made for you and me!
I’m a Steelers fan and I am loathe to give any Raven his due, but Ben Watson is da man! I just wished he would have stayed with the Saints so I could root for him as a player too.
Exactly. Yesterday Barry stood in a foreign land and declared kneeling was a constitutional right...and nobody I saw in the media noticed how flawed a statement that was. The 49ers should fire their guy...and they certainly could, without violating his constitutional rights.
IOW - Barry is an idiot, and the adoring media ignore it.
I think the one big thing that affects all of this racism stuff is blacks thing most of us live lives of care free billionaires.
Life is Brutal!! Even ni the best times, there is always some new challenge or trouble we are battling.
Working till our bones or minds ache, concern about all of the bills, concern about a sick loved one, concern if you ARE sick, and much more.
But you wake up and you move forward. You get hit and you keep moving forward. And you enjoy the precious good times that are made so much better because of the bad.
Life ain’t all sunshine and roses cause you’re white.
Many of us can attest to that.
Blacks need to realize that and step up.
So true and beautifully put.
Character counts.
Bingo! What you do on your employer's time is subject to the contract you have with your employer. What you do on your own time is another matter entirely.
Is it a "free speech" issue if you spend time on your employer's computer on your employer's time surfing porn sites?
I think we could survive a plain old “idiot”, but the big problem with Barry that the media and half the country ignores is that he’s anti-American first and an idiot second. IMO.
He is most likely one of the smartest players currently in the NFL.
That is truly painful on this Board in reflection of Mr. Watson’s post.
Woody Guthrie was a dyed in the wool communist.
Most excellent
Certainly blows the “dumb jock” stereotype to smithereens.
***there is no “right” to kneel or not stand in this instance.***
If the players, as employees of the NFL teams are on the clock, then there are no rights till they clock out.
Any private citizen in a company would get fired immediately.
Go, Benjamin! Go, Ravens!
Ravens ping!
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