I doubt that Brees is a racist and he [overall] seems like a good guy who cares about his community, but I agree that this was a super-bonehead moment on his part. One of the biggest problems in our country is we equate the American flag to the military; so when you kneel during the national anthem, it appears you are protesting the military. Many people - especially on the left and in the middle - just don't see it this way. While we respect our military members for their service, the flag means so much more. Kneeling during the national anthem as a protest shouldn't be seen as a protest against our military, but as a protest against something that is unjust in society.
I concur. I don't think Brees is a 'bad guy' at all. But I do think he is exhibiting a broken understanding here. Taking a knee during the anthem is not a disrespect of either the flag or the military. It is, in fact, using that moment of respect for the flag to bring attention to actions by others that are the real disrespect for what the flag represents (and those who have died to defend it).
The real 'disrespect' for the flag is by those who hide their racist activities by wrapping themselves in the flag.
I think you guys are making an excuse for him. There is no way to know whether he is racist or no. None of you know what they talk about with his family kids .... what conversations he has with friends and elder family before ellections.
Judging solely by his actions (community and church work) and that he shares the field and locker room and seats at the bus with his teammates he would not be a racist 50 years ago...
things have changed dramatically since then.... with the divisiveness of politics and media nowadays it’s a lot more black and white and there is no in between.... you are either with them or against them... you’re either racist or not racist.
I have to strongly disagree with you on this one. Just like many things in life, things are not just black and white (metaphor, not race), but rather things can be gray. What I think Brees is displaying here is not that his racist but rather his ignorance. He's being ignorant to what the kneeling is about. I think with a lot of people, they either don't care to understand because being ignorant is easier than having those conversations and acknowledging there is an issue or they honestly don't understand what is the issue because they don't know and their natural response is to place into their own perspective based on their own experience, which many times is limited since they might now know people of color.
I am a minority (Brazilian) that grew up in a place that lacks diversity. I got to learn that people's ignorance in part can be for the lack of better word, that they don't know any better. They make assumptions and decisions on what they read rather than what they have experienced.
I now live in a place that is extremely diverse. In my son's preschool class, I think 80% of his class is a minority, whether Asian, Central and South American, black and Arabic. The environment that they grow up will be opening them up to different cultures, customs, food and interaction. At some point I will have to teach my son that not everybody grows up in his environment so he'll have to be open minded not to other cultures, but to people that don't have experienced those. He'll have to teach them what it's like to be open and have discussions.
My last point is I remember one time a girl asked me if I lived in a tree in Brazil. I could tell that she wasn't asking maliciously, but because she honestly didn't know. I was offended but at the same time, it also gave me an opportunity to teach her about what my experience was like and I think she was better off knowing.