Is bringing politics to sport justified?

That's what I mean when I say justification is subjective.

Kaepernick refused to stand for our national anthem because of the climate between black communities and the police. He was roundly criticized for it by the right-wing while supported by the left-wing. One side found it a just move, the other an unjust move.

You can never rid anything of politics, it will always be prevalent in every facet of life

ES wrote:You can never rid anything of politics, it will always be prevalent in every facet of life

Pretty much this.
But people love to act like politics is just something abstract or only for politicians.

Looks like Megan Rapinoe has just joined Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players in bringing politics into sports:

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe follows Colin Kaepernick in kneeling for anthem https://t.co/z98mpJPg9x pic.twitter.com/JqiGyFigmH

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 5, 2016

Politics are always already in sports.
You might consider refusing to do some kind of gesture or posture during the playing of the anthem 'bringing sports into politics', but the fact that the anthem is played with a certain accompanying posture/behaviour expected shows politics was always already there.

Agreed. As good as it is to live here in this country (relatively speaking I suppose), we are incredibly nationalistic and though I love my country, these overt displays of such nationalism (such as the anthem being played at every sporting event from little league baseball games to professional football games) has always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I think it's more a character trait that I could liken to when I was a Christian. I never liked going to church as I always liked it when we stayed on him and just watched services on TV as that allowed us to worship in our own way, on our own time. I feel very much the same about how I express my support for my country. Having to say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning when I was in elementary school was another overtly nationalistic activity that unnerved me. The older and more politically aware I got, the less I began to participate in such things. Both of those events are incredibly nationalistic to the point that there are parallels to similar things happening in other countries at the height of communism, the scourge that America hates. Such irony is unmistakable.

That's what this whole thing has brought to the surface. It's always been there and given the vitriol being thrown at Kaepernick and Rapinoe, I think what they're doing is exactly what needs to be done to have this discussion as a nation.

Republic of Ireland footballer James McClean turned his back on the british national anthem once. the hypocricy in that pissed me off a fair bit tbh.

McLewis wrote:Interesting topic, especially given what Colin Kaepernick just did. There comes a point when athletes, as role models for those who will replace them in the future, often feel it their duty to address the political climate of the day. There's a way to do it, of course, but it won't lessen the impact it can have when a high profile athlete makes a political statement.

Justification is subjective. What one might find just, another might find unjust.

what has been the fallout from that. americans don't like any disrespect for the flag.

Unique wrote:

McLewis wrote:Interesting topic, especially given what Colin Kaepernick just did. There comes a point when athletes, as role models for those who will replace them in the future, often feel it their duty to address the political climate of the day. There's a way to do it, of course, but it won't lessen the impact it can have when a high profile athlete makes a political statement.

Justification is subjective. What one might find just, another might find unjust.

what has been the fallout from that. americans don't like any disrespect for the flag.

They don't want anyone to disrespect the flag. Yet by "disrespecting" the flag he's demonstrating the values that the flag stands for, quite paradoxical argument from Kaepernick haters.

I'm with him on his stance, but I feel it would've had a so much bigger impact coming from a superstar. If it had been Russell Wilson or LeBron or something that would've been better.

Freeza wrote:

Unique wrote:

McLewis wrote:Interesting topic, especially given what Colin Kaepernick just did. There comes a point when athletes, as role models for those who will replace them in the future, often feel it their duty to address the political climate of the day. There's a way to do it, of course, but it won't lessen the impact it can have when a high profile athlete makes a political statement.

Justification is subjective. What one might find just, another might find unjust.

what has been the fallout from that. americans don't like any disrespect for the flag.

They don't want anyone to disrespect the flag. Yet by "disrespecting" the flag he's demonstrating the values that the flag stands for, quite paradoxical argument from Kaepernick haters.

I'm with him on his stance, but I feel it would've had a so much bigger impact coming from a superstar. If it had been Russell Wilson or LeBron or something that would've been better.

but some people could say why did he make a stand after police have shot a few black guys but he he never took the same stand when the USA drop bombs and kill loads of people. now I'm not saying any of it is right or wrong. but if he did that because black lifes matter then why don't he think all lifes matter. just a thought.

Politics has been in sports since forever. From the days of black athletes being discriminated to the days of General Franco and of course to modern times.

In all honesty, politics plays a part in most aspect of life not just sport. It's impossible to separate it

tbh politics should have no place in sports at all. sport is about fun. friendship and good sportsmanship. if a country and its sports men and women cant respect the people they compeate with then said country should be banned from taking part imo.

Unique wrote:

Freeza wrote:

Unique wrote: what has been the fallout from that. americans don't like any disrespect for the flag.

They don't want anyone to disrespect the flag. Yet by "disrespecting" the flag he's demonstrating the values that the flag stands for, quite paradoxical argument from Kaepernick haters.

I'm with him on his stance, but I feel it would've had a so much bigger impact coming from a superstar. If it had been Russell Wilson or LeBron or something that would've been better.

but some people could say why did he make a stand after police have shot a few black guys but he he never took the same stand when the USA drop bombs and kill loads of people. now I'm not saying any of it is right or wrong. but if he did that because black lifes matter then why don't he think all lifes matter. just a thought.

I really have a hard time understanding what you're writing.

First of all, he didn't single out black people in his complaint. He said black people and other people of colour i.e. Everyone not white.

All lives matter? Are you one of those plebs? Black lives matter doesn't mean no other lives matter, it's a protest group against police violence.

Also his stand was against a national anthem celebrating a country that doesn't care about its people. Anyone not on Kaepernicks side in this will be on the wrong side of history.

Also there hasn't been a huge start of a war since Kaepernick joined the league. Last time USA invaded a country he was 12. Pretty sure 12yo Kaepernick didn't have a medium to voice his complaints.

Least of all this whole saga about Kaepernick really has resemblances of real far right nationalism.

Freeza wrote:

Unique wrote:

Freeza wrote:

They don't want anyone to disrespect the flag. Yet by "disrespecting" the flag he's demonstrating the values that the flag stands for, quite paradoxical argument from Kaepernick haters.

I'm with him on his stance, but I feel it would've had a so much bigger impact coming from a superstar. If it had been Russell Wilson or LeBron or something that would've been better.

but some people could say why did he make a stand after police have shot a few black guys but he he never took the same stand when the USA drop bombs and kill loads of people. now I'm not saying any of it is right or wrong. but if he did that because black lifes matter then why don't he think all lifes matter. just a thought.

I really have a hard time understanding what you're writing.

First of all, he didn't single out black people in his complaint. He said black people and other people of colour i.e. Everyone not white.

All lives matter? Are you one of those plebs? Black lives matter doesn't mean no other lives matter, it's a protest group against police violence.

Also his stand was against a national anthem celebrating a country that doesn't care about its people. Anyone not on Kaepernicks side in this will be on the wrong side of history.

Also there hasn't been a huge start of a war since Kaepernick joined the league. Last time USA invaded a country he was 12. Pretty sure 12yo Kaepernick didn't have a medium to voice his complaints.

Least of all this whole saga about Kaepernick really has resemblances of real far right nationalism.

are the usa not dropping bombs right now as we speak?. my point was if the police shootings were not going on in the USA right now would he make the same stand about all the people getting killed by the bombs being dropped by the usa. I'm not arguing about whats right or wrong here I'm just saying is he god bless America when the bombs are dropping and citizens get killed. but out raged when police kill a few American citizens. maybe he would do the same thing I don't know. I just put the question out there.

Unique wrote:

McLewis wrote:Interesting topic, especially given what Colin Kaepernick just did. There comes a point when athletes, as role models for those who will replace them in the future, often feel it their duty to address the political climate of the day. There's a way to do it, of course, but it won't lessen the impact it can have when a high profile athlete makes a political statement.

Justification is subjective. What one might find just, another might find unjust.

what has been the fallout from that. americans don't like any disrespect for the flag.

The fallout has been that a national conversation has begun. Kaepernick has his supporters and his detractors, but this was his aim overall I believe: To get people talking about these issues. And now we're doing that.

As for him donating money after the fact, yes the optics don't support him here because we are a naturally cynical society where no one of fame can do anything without an ulterior motive. I am personally not concerned with when he decided to donate money, only that he did.

As for the USA bombing specific targets, just because we're not pouring our tens of millions of charity money into these areas doesn't necessarily mean we, as a public, don't care that our country is killing innocent people. I assure you that there are many of us who do and abhor it. Here's the thing though: As bad as someone dying thousands of miles away in another part of the world, it's very hard to ignore someone you grew up with down the street getting gunned down just around the corner, whether it's by a cop or a criminal. Either way, that hits home for us so that's what gets more of our attention.

Having to say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning when I was in elementary school was another overtly nationalistic activity that unnerved me. The older and more politically aware I got, the less I began to participate in such things. Both of those events are incredibly nationalistic to the point that there are parallels to similar things happening in other countries at the height of communism, the scourge that America hates. Such irony is unmistakable.

Man, this really ended up getting to me as I got older. I always did it when I was younger (everyone does it through middle school...it's only high school when kids start defecting from it), but as I got older I stopped completely, and just ignored it. I never got that incredibly bothered by it, but I agree with you--it unnerved me. I remember in AP Bio one time we had a substitute teacher that was there for the day. Our normal teacher was a stud so he didn't care what we did during the pledge and indeed gave it no attention either, but this sub came in and she was older (probably ~70 years old) and stood up and said it while none of us did. She stared us down for about a minute afterward, and you could tell she was boiling with rage. Told us she's been teaching/subbing for over twenty years and never seen such a disrespectful class. Wish I could go back and talk to her about it, but none of us said anything, I just didn't care.

As for politics in sport--it's always been there, and it always will be. I'm not sure how I feel about it, as a Barca fan I can't say that I disagree with it because FCB and Catalonia are intrinsically linked. And perhaps there is a place for it. That being said, I can't say that I don't love it when you see different people putting aside their conflict and differences and playing a sport together and enjoying it. Christmas day truce, and all that.

So some baseball player has been suspended for calling rioters animals.

His assessment of the Charlotte incident seems to be correct. A black officer shot a black man and the black mob reacts by smashing in white-devil faces with bricks. I think that all in all, animal isn't inappropriate in the aforementioned context.

It's interesting that due process seems to be dead and that white people are scapegoated when a black person is shot by another black person.

Even more interesting that pointing out the absurdity of it is apparently a thought crime. Remember pretties, the number of crimes with a black perp/White victim is considerably greater than the number of crimes with a white perp/Black victim. All white nationalists must be licking their lips because once a tipping point is reach things will go from 0 to 100 awfully quickly.
Stop being insane if you want avoid the consequences of that.