An Ungrateful Heart

It both saddens and perplexes your favorite Peasant
when someone in our wonderful country makes it big,
makes a fortune at what he enjoys doing, gets
lots of encouragement along the way, yet finds
it necessary to demean our country as somehow
being unfair, oppressive, or prejudiced. The latest
such story centers on San Francisco 49ers
quarterback Colin Kaepernik, who has, beginning
with the first pre-season exhibition football game
he and his teammates played a few weeks ago,
begun a protest of sorts by remaining seated during
the playing of the National Anthem before each game.
His reason? He stated "I am not going to stand up
to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses
black people and people of color, ... To me, this is
bigger than football and it would be selfish to
look the other way... "

Now Kaepernik, who is black, was adopted and
raised by a well-to-do white family. They gave
him a life of plentitude, including a college education
which enabled him to develop his football skills to
the point of being drafted by an NFL team. And the
scouts that discovered him, and got him signed to
a pro contract, were white. He makes more money
than most people dare dream of making. Can Kaepernik
please explain how he has been "oppressed" for any
reason, particularly in regard to the color of
his skin?

Does Kaepernik know how well (or, more likely, not)
black people in other countries are faring? There
are many in various African countries that are living
in what can only be charitable called abject poverty.
Many of them are fortunate to be earning two dollars
a day at whatever work they can get. And some of these
countries have black dictators who oppress them to a
shocking degree, far beyond what most people can imagine.
Many flee, or at least attempt to, and many do not make
it out alive. they don't live in huge, fancy homes; they
have, with any luck, tiny huts of mud and grass. Cars?
hardly. Clothes? Not on the order of what an American
professional football player can afford. You, my wonderful
readers, get the picture, while Kaepernik needs to get a clue.

And Kaepernik has not been arrested and jailed for his
public display of misguided outrage and accompanying
peurile behavior. In the aforementioned parts of the world
he would have faced this along with torture and maybe execution.
But these facts apparently have escaped this spoiled dolt.
Perhaps he has been knocked on his head too many times
by hard-charging 300-pound-plus defensive ends?

This jock's ignorance has fed his ungrateful heart, and has
led him to play the fool. What he should do in his off-season
free time is to travel to the African continent to visit these
countries and see just how his black counterparts are faring
in their homelands. Maybe Kaeprenik needs a big jolt of
reality to change his heart and his attitude.

Finally, Colin Kaepernik, while not violating any law in not
standing for the playing of our nation's anthem (as a matter
of fact the Constitution allows for him to so express himself),
it must be noted that there are countries which severely punish
its citizens for not standing for their national anthems,
not saluting their flags and related infractions, and that is
shameful. Our country, where we cherish our freedom,
does not and never shall impose any such display of allegiance,
because we are, after all, a free country which zealously
protects our liberty and our many freedoms, which include
the freedom of expression --- and that includes choosing
not to stand for our National Anthem. Even the 49ers do
not require its personnel to stand for the anthem, but
rather encourages doing so. But in remaining seated for
the anthem, and for the reason which the 49ers' quarter-brained
quarterback has given, reveals great ignorance and ingratitude,
and should be recognized as such and called out. Your faithful
Peasant is doing just that here on this blog.


MEM