Discussion: Racism - Part 1

[The Incredible Hulk]

Read the poem you site, it's 3rd verse, and about the details of the battle it references; who was fighting for what....

!

Third stanza:

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I'm fully aware of the poem. The third stanza of the poem however is not part of the anthem. The anthem is only based on the poem as I've mentioned above.

 

[moviedoors]

Yeah the post modernist in me is having trouble with the idea that the Anthem is problematic because of something it doesn't contain.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I've never been a big fan for the current American national anthem. Give me Battle Hymn of the Republican any day.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I'm fully aware of the poem. The third stanza of the poem however is not part of the anthem. The anthem is only based on the poem as I've mentioned above.

Yes, but the poem itself has racism in it. Thus while it is all nice to say they left those bits out, they still based it on a source steeped in racism.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

A few things about this situation.

1. Kaepernick came up with a very smart way to gain attention through inaction.

2. Using the military as a way to ignore his argument is beyond obvious. So many want to avoid this topic, and how they do it is transparent.

3. Telling someone to leave the US because they want to make social changes seems to ignore exactly why we have a military to protect our rights. But hey, that's racism for ya.

 

[SuperT]

I think it's really hilarious that the people criticizing Kaepernick and others for not standing for the National Anthem and calling him unpatriotic/un-American would be the same people that would criticize North Korea and their forced patriotism.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I honestly would have mistaken him for white.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I honestly would have mistaken him for white.

Have you never seen him?

 

[moviedoors]

Yes, but the poem itself has racism in it. Thus while it is all nice to say they left those bits out, they still based it on a source steeped in racism.

Yeah but, it's not in the Anthem. The Anthem is its own thing. Judging it for something that was specifically left out of it seems wrongheaded to me. It's being criticized for something it literally isn't.

 

[Breogan]

I honestly would have mistaken him for white.

Yeah he can look white in allot of pics. why he is labeled one or the other or why we are still race labeling is beyond me.
This is his biological mother,

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah but, it's not in the Anthem. The Anthem is its own thing. Judging it for something that was specifically left out of it seems wrongheaded to me. It's being criticized for something it literally isn't.

It is not its own thing. If it was its own thing they wouldn't have based it so heavily on a poem. And it is being criticized for its origins, which like a lot of things in this country, has racism attached to it.

Also lets not pretend that at the time it was made the anthem racism wasn't a huge part of the US. It was the norm in fact.

 

[Breogan]

I'm fully aware of the poem. The third stanza of the poem however is not part of the anthem. The anthem is only based on the poem as I've mentioned above.

If you know it is based on the poem, you know it's context and what "freed" blacks were fighting for. And by extension known the anthem derived from it commemorates their defeat.
Hence it seems you should have known what he was talking about, when you asked.

The Star Spangled Banner didn't become the National Anthem until 1931 (and is based on a poem about the War of 1812). Slavery was abolished in 1865. What in the sam hell are you talking about?

 

[Thundercrack85]

Have you never seen him?

Looks pretty white in some of those photos.

In a lot of places he would not be considered black.

 

[Warhammer]

Unfair? Kaepernick is a big boy...I think...so he can handle criticism for his actions.

He can feel what he wants to feel, so can those upset over his actions. My point is it's disrespectful and there is a better time and place to express your ideas. He's just looking for attention. He also comes off as hypocritical like so many celebrities with an agenda vying for the limelight. So, his points will be largely dismissed because of how he chose to convey his ideas. No one will care in a month.

Disrespectful to who? To veterans? To you and me? To those who believe in a pre-conceived notion that if one speaks out against the US in any shape or form, that person is anti-American?

And why is he merely looking for attention? He can't discuss this issue because he is a millionaire? So when a random nobody from an inner city ghetto says it, nobody cares. But when a celebrity says something, that must mean they have an agenda. Be honest here. Saying what he said actually endangered his spot on the 49ers and his endorsements. Come on now.

 

[Schlosser85]

Looks pretty white in some of those photos.

In a lot of places he would not be considered black.

He's mixed race.

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

It's not unusual for biracial people with a black parent to identify as black.

Overall, biracial adults who are both white and black are three times as likely to say they have a lot in common with people who are black than they do with whites (58% vs. 19%). They also feel more accepted by blacks than by whites (58% vs. 25% say they are accepted “very well”) and report having far more contact with their black relatives: 69% say they’ve had a lot of contact with family members who are black over the course of their lives, while just 21% report similar levels of contact with their white relatives. About four-in-ten (41%) say they have had no contact with family members who are white.

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/

 

[Victarion]

Brady should be thanking Kaepernick.

 

[Warhammer]

It's not unusual for biracial people with a black parent to identify as black.

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/

That is just US society in general. If you aren't 100% white or at least look 100% white, you're not going to be considered white. Nobody ever recognizes Barack Obama for being half white.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Most biracial people look ethnic and would get a weird look if they showed up to pick up a white man's daughter.

I've had biracial people who assumed we lived in a post-racial society later complain about unfair treatment from a love interest's parents or the police.

 

[Thundercrack85]

America is pretty damn far from post-racial. People seem to have less and less issue with interracial relations, but when it comes to the children, it still seems to be something the country is adjusting to. Most children seem to be forced or encouraged to just assume the race they outwardly appear to be.

Take Obama for instance. Abandoned by his Kenyan father, raised largely by his white mother's very white grandparents. Identifies as black.

 

[Laderlappen]

That is just US society in general. If you aren't 100% white or at least look 100% white, you're not going to be considered white. Nobody ever recognizes Barack Obama for being half white.

I don't think they would be considered black either. Well in the case of Obama, he at least looks black.

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

I don't think they would be considered black either. Well in the case of Obama, he at least looks black.

What are you basing that on?

 

[Laderlappen]

What are you basing that on?

The first part? Based on what I think and based on what I've heard from other people, black and white.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Obama could say he's half white all day long...

The moment he tries to date a white woman, move into a white neighborhood or gets pulled over, he's a black man.

The same goes for most half-black people.

 

[RockSP]

It's one thing to want to talk about the police killings but Kaepernick practically outed himself as an anti-American. A lot of people will take issue of that. Michael Jordan, Lebron James and other athletes has talked about the same issues but in a more productive manner.

Michael Jordan? HAHAHA!!!!!!! Jordan is notorious for never taking a stand on anything political. He's all about that $$$. That recent press release (written by someone else of course) and donation to two organizations was the closest he's ever come, in his 50's and more than a decade after retiring.