Joe speaks out

[BonnieBengal]

(06-03-2020, 05:35 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: The whole idea of 'kneeling' came from a military veteran - a former Green Beret took issue with CK's sitting on bench during the anthem. He thought it would be a good compromise, and a respectful way of protesting, even if he didn't fully agree with it:

'You know, this was two years ago, 2016 during the preseason. And he, you know, had sat on the bench. And I think it was actually his third time he'd sat on the bench. But it was the first time it had received national attention. And, you know, he got questioned about it, and he said, well, I'm not going to stand for the flag of a country that oppresses black people and people of color. And then he talked about, you know, social injustices and police brutality and why he thought, you know, he shouldn't be standing for the anthem.'

'And it struck a chord with me, of course, and it struck a chord with a lot of people - a lot of people in the veteran community as well - because obviously the flag and the anthem and what that stuff stands for means something, you know, very different to us. And I was pretty upset, you know, just because I felt like he didn't understand what those symbols really represent. And - but instead of letting my anger overwhelm me, I decided to relax a little bit, and I wrote this open letter that was just explaining my experiences, my relationship to the flag.'

'And Colin actually reached out, said he wanted to meet with me. And we sat in the lobby of the team hotel, discussed our situation, our different opinions and feelings about all this. And I suggested him taking a knee instead of sitting even though I wanted him to stand, and he wanted to sit. And it was, like, this compromise that we sort of came to. And that's where the kneeling began.'

'In my experience, kneeling's never been in our history really seen as a disrespectful act. I mean, people kneel when they get knighted. You kneel to propose to your wife, and you take a knee to pray. And soldiers often take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave to pay respects. So I thought, if anything, besides standing, that was the most respectful.'

'We live in a time where there's not a lot of respect for our fellow man. I don't think people should stand with pride for something that they don't believe in, period. I just don't think that. I think if you don't feel that way, then let's fix it. Let's work together to make this situation better. Because I want you to want to stand. I want you to want to feel that same type of pride that I feel.'

'What I've fought for, what we all fought for - whether we like it or not, we can say we don't like it all day - but we took an oath to defend the Constitution. And I fought to defend our rights, which obviously include the first amendment, you know, which is free speech. And I don't have to agree with or even like what people do sometimes. But I have defended the right of someone to stand right in front of my face and burn an American flag, you know, and call me a baby killer or call me whatever they want. I still fought for that.'

'What makes it very difficult, and it can be hurtful because it's just - you can say a protest or a campaign or you can say anything is about a specific idea. You can say, like, look. It's not about this. It's about this. I'm not - I don't hate America. I'm not disrespecting the flag. This is not about veterans. This is about people of color and the criminal justice system and all that. But you also don't get to choose how people perceive things. And that's what makes this even more difficult and just tougher for just a lot of people - I'm not going to say just people in camouflage, but all of us as Americans.'

- Nate Boyer

We'll have to disagree on that.  I sat out the NFL a couple of seasons ago, and if a Bengal kneels, I'm out again.