Some St. Louis Rams football players entered the field yesterday with arms up, displaying “hands up don’t shoot.” It was obviously a reference to Ferguson/Officer Wilson/Michael Brown. Besides the fact that there is much conflicting testimony, if the Rams football players want to be so political, where was their stand when former Ravens Ray Rice beat the living daylights out of his then fiancé, now wife? No criticism of domestic violence? My thought: let’s leave politics out of football. When I watch football, I want to watch football. The players wanting to express themselves should go on news shows or write an op/ed or post on Facebook etc to give their opinions but not during NFL game. And on another note….the NFL must think the fans are stupid….the stadiums blast to the fans in the stadium when to cheer — frankly, fans are just not that stupid, they know when to cheer! They don’t need the stadium to tell them.
I just love it when public figures feel they have the right to dictate to athletes and entertainers what they’re allowed to do AND when they’re allowed to do it. The idea that Greta Van Susteren feels justified in telling members of the St. Louis Rams to “leave politics out of football” shows just how out of touch her rich white lady schtick truly is.
How about we turn the table on her for a moment? When I watch news, I want to be given accurate information that isn’t filtered through a Right-wing ideological prism and calculated for maximum propaganda value. I want news, not Right-wing talking heads who give their opinions during a broadcast. And where was Fox News Channel when so many Congressional Republicans were wrongly accusing the President of violating the Constitution with his immigration executive order? FNC could have pointed out that every President since Dwight Eisenhower had done what Barack Obama did…but instead of reporting the facts, they ran with lies and disinformation.
Van Susteren’s Facebook post was stunning in the depth and breadth of its ignorance and dismissiveness. Perhaps living in her White privilege bubble means never having to worry about whether being stopped by a police officer could be fatal. She doesn’t have to live with the reality that African-Americans- males in particular- have ample reason to be afraid of police in a way that Van Susteren will never experience or understand.
Not only did Van Susteren’s remarks reveal a disturbing lack of compassion and understanding, another bastion of White privilege was also unhappy with the on-field protest.
ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Police Officers Association has released a statement condemning the St. Louis Rams football players who entered the field displaying the “hands up don’t shoot” pose.
Yes, SLPOA (which, ironically enough, is the organization advocating for St. Louis’ WHITE police officers) was incensed that Rams players would use pre-game introductions to make a political statement. How DARE the players impugn the reputation of local police? Never mind that a local police officer shot and killed Michael Brown under circumstances that a grand jury decision did nothing to clarify.
What was interesting about SLPOA’s reaction was how thoroughly self-serving it was and how it selectively cherry-picked information to make the desired point:
“St. Louis, Missouri (November 30, 2014) - The St. Louis Police Officers Association is profoundly disappointed with the members of the St. Louis Rams football team who chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week and engage in a display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive and inflammatory.
“Five members of the Rams entered the field today exhibiting the “hands-up-don’t-shoot” pose that has been adopted by protestors who accused Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson of murdering Michael Brown. The gesture has become synonymous with assertions that Michael Brown was innocent of any wrongdoing and attempting to surrender peacefully when Wilson, according to some now-discredited witnesses, gunned him down in cold blood.
“SLPOA Business Manager Jeff Roorda said, “now that the evidence is in and Officer Wilson’s account has been verified by physical and ballistic evidence as well as eye-witness testimony, which led the grand jury to conclude that no probable cause existed that Wilson engaged in any wrongdoing, it is unthinkable that hometown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over-and-over again.”
The fact is that no one with any credibility has asserted the Michael Brown was innocent of any wrongdoing. The assertion was that he was shot by Officer Darren Wilson under circumstances that don’t add up. The evidence may be in, but Officer Wilson’s account was NOT verified by ballistic and physical evidence…unless one chooses to interpret it that way…which SLPOA has evidently determined is appropriate.
The grand jury may not have issued an indictment, but there are numerous issues and unanswered questions about how the prosecution handled the case…like why was the prosecuting attorney also raising money for Darren Wilson?
“Hometown athletes” aren’t perpetuating “a narrative that has been disproven over and over again.” The fact that Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted isn’t ipso facto proof of his innocence. If anything, the grand jury’s decision raises more questions than it answers. White folks may not like to see African-American athletes protesting, but perhaps they’d be better served to wonder why it so often happens that White police officers shoot young African-American men? The players who protested were taking a stand on something that likely hits very close to home for them- and they were certainly within their rights to stage a protest that was a respectful as it was non-disruptive.
Given that SLPOA represents only White police officers, their self-interested outrage is understandable, if hypocritical…but it doesn’t deserve to be considered that last word on the issue. The St. Louis area has demonstrated itself to be riven with previously unacknowledged racial tension; all SLPOA wants to do is sweep that truth under the rug and put African-Americans in their “place.”
Instead of whining about African-American athletes taking a stand, how about SLPOA take the lead in restoring faith in the St. Louis Police Department? Of course, that would require actually working in concert with the local African-American community, which evidently is way too damned much work for SLPOA.
