In all of the coverage of the NFL protests, something that’s not being widely reported is how fans around the country booed the players who either knelt or or went to the locker room to protest the National Anthem.
As most media outlets would lead you to believe, the NFL and its players took a collective stand against President Trump and systemic racial inequities, the foremost issue being the police brutality against minorities – and those protesting are somehow heroes.
WATCH: Patriots fans boo their team during anthem protest in wake of Trump's comments. More from @arniestapleton: https://t.co/5dfjstwRJs pic.twitter.com/kvLmSzG28w
— AP NFL (@AP_NFL) September 24, 2017
They want people to think these players are being courageous in challenging the president and standing up against white supremacy, Facism, and all of the racist police in the country.
There are some serious problems with that narrative that’s being shoved down our throats however.
First and foremost, police do not target minorities to harass, assault, or murder. It simply DOES NOT HAPPEN in any kind of systemic way. Time and again in the most public cases in recent history, officers accused of using excessive force have been exonerated by judge and jury according to arguably the most equitable legal systems in the world. Also, multiple studies have been released about the myth of law enforcement targeting and killing officers, like THIS ONE.
Those that believe the system is rigged perhaps would do better by voting into public office representatives that would pass new laws regarding our criminal justice system instead of protesting two lasting symbols of unity in America. Kneeling for the cameras doesn’t do anything. That’s not how it works in our democratic republic. It works by showing up at the polls and casting your vote.
MISGUIDED
Does it happen that there is more of a police presence in high-crime areas? Yes. Does it also sometimes happen that high-crime areas are also disproportionately inhabited by minorities? Yes.
High-crime = more police presence. More police presence = more police interactions. Less crime = less police presence and less police interactions. It’s fairly logical, but not inherently racist.
Yet these are the main underlying issues of the National Anthem and American Flag protests. That’s why so many, if not the vast majority, of football fans think that kneeling for, or not showing up for the Anthem as displayed on Sunday, is viewed as an insult to all of the great things this country stands for.
So the boo birds came out in force on Sunday, not just over a bad call against the home team, but terrible call by a growing number of players who base their protests on factually inaccurate sentiments. But the networks and the pundits largely ignored the angry fans and the widespread booing that took place.
And that is the biggest truth that national media outlets like CNN and ESPN do not want the average American to see, which further infuriates those that disagree with the protest. It’s the silencing of those that oppose the disrespect for our flag and anthem that is not only fake news, it’s helping to rip apart the country.
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