Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:Gents, once again, I'm not looking to provoke any sort of conflict here, and if by some chance I've done that by sharing this link I do apologize.

However, since this thread exists I do feel compelled to share it here as it is an incredibly good summation of how I feel. If you have the time, I strongly encourage you to give it a watch. 20 minutes of your time is all I ask.

Watch @RealCandaceO's broadcast: Confession: #GeorgeFloyd is neither a martyr or a hero. But I hope his family gets justice.

https://www.pscp.tv/w/cacQmDFlVlFZclBuUlJLTE98MU1ZR05rbFlhWVpKdwY9fnE4tU_dE5wAe2BV7AqrEsJWzZMYcXMdJsJbf5E1

Wow Cam, If I was black, female, and a lot thinner, I would think I was looking in a mirror!

She pretty much summed up most of what I have been saying for the past five years.

I don't know how many have followed comments by Lebron, Pop, Kerr, etc.. but I find it odd how outspoken they are after not hearing a whimper from them on the Hong Kong situation. Funny how REALLY rich guys lose their voices when it might actually cost them something.

Actually sjm, LeBron (and perhaps Kerr?) did speak up about the Hong Kong situation. LeBron (who had 32 mil reasons to not criticize China) called Daryl Morey "misinformed" and "not educated" (and more) after Morey was voicing his support for the Hong Kong protestors. Kaepernick, the irony is that during his human rights crusade he was at a press conference with a t-shirt of Fidel Castro with the quote "Like minds think alike". Castro, mind you, is one of the most oppressive leaders of our time. I just find a great deal of irony that a guy like Drew Brees could be called out by the same people who had no problem with oppression in other countries in which they were (showing support for).

Now BLM is planning to arm their "Peace Officers" in NYC and other areas suggesting they'll "fight back" if police try to push them around, and are requesting the police be defunded. They indicated they are looking to model themselves after The Black Panthers. The police aren't trying to scare protestors, they're trying to control the situation so it doesn't get out of hand. If the protests remained at peaceful protests, the police nationwide would let everyone protest all night and all day. But because there are riots/fires/looting, they have no choice but to clear the streets (not killing) so that they can focus on the people causing the late-night problems. Get rid of those and you'll see all the police as friendly as possible I'd imagine, at least during this time period.

If that happens, that will cause a lot of unnecessary problems with any potential movement that's happening in the near future. Most of us agree change is needed and would like any red tape that's holding blacks back from being on even ground removed, but it really needs to be a collaborative effort where people build trust in police while the police are reviewed by independent agencies and legislators come up with fair legislation that is designed to give everyone an even opportunity over time. I think the best way to do so would be get together with local leaders and build up their schools, pay their teachers well, and make sure there are plenty of free programs available in low income places, ideally school based. There are a lot of things that should be prioritized. I really have a distaste for "reparations" because that does nothing for the future of people. Education, safe activities, cultural leaders leading people to making good decisions, and honestly 2 parent households would all be helpful. Police also need to be able to have open, honest communication with communities going both ways to let each other know what their challenges are and how they can work together to overcome those challenges.

And how about a human race celebration day designed to encourage interracial positive experiences so that people can start to tear down their walls and stereotypes. A black person shouldn't be on edge when pulled over by police and wonder if they're going to be harassed for their skin color. A police officer shouldn't have to be on edge when pulling over a black man in North Minneapolis at midnight. A black person with the same educational background as his white/asian counterpart shouldn't feel like he's less likely to get the job. A black person should be able to walk into a traditionally white country club and feel comfortable and welcomed. A white person should be able to walk in a black neighborhood and feel safe as well.

There's a lot that needs to happen and it won't happen all at once. I think enough people are interested in seeing change at this point that it will happen. To me, the concern that could set back what might be headed in motion BLM getting aggressive with police, because trust that is intended to build will immediately dissolve, and people will be forced to take sides. We've seen what these cities look like when police aren't around, and we definitely need the police. I hope this goes the right direction.

As a final note, I think it's ridiculous that Drew Brees of all people is being called out left and right. Why is he not entitled to view the National Anthem in the way that he does? If it's not about our veterans who died for the rights that are being demonstrated this week, that's someone's opinion. If it is, that's someone's opinion too. Drew has done nothing but help his community in so many ways, also openly indicates he wants equality, but because he has a different point of view on what kneeling during the anthem stands for, he's suddenly a racist? Suddenly he has to change what the National Anthem means to him? Stupid. I hope he stands his ground for what he believes. Me personally, I wasn't offended by Kaepernick, but I do get annoyed when athletes and actors use their public platforms while on the clock for their own social issues. People watch sports to get away from the real world, not to be reminded of the problems in this world. He splits the fan-base because of how/where he was sending a message, not because of the message itself. Kaep has other platforms he could have used (media interviews, creating social change groups, etc) and the media would give him all sorts of attention, but it sure would be nice to watch a sports game and actually be able to listen to them talk about the game itself. Same thing with actors/musicians at award ceremonies.

What concerns me about the world today is that not only are people not able to have opposite opinions anymore, but people with the same goals now can't even disagree about the path to get to those goals without bigotry. I hope this time in the country's history is looked back on favorably, because I could see this going 2 very different ways.

Camden wrote:

sjm34 wrote:I have a legitimate question about this whole incident.

What did I miss in all the media coverage that somehow made this about Race? I get the police brutality angle, but I see nothing that tells me his race had anything to do with what happened.

Agreed. Some people are just bad human beings. Somewhere along the way this became a race issue out of no where. Weird. It's almost like there's a political agenda at play here, which is disgusting.

I've talked to some friends that believe race was involved, some that believe it wasn't. The argument most make to say it was about race is "if Floyd was a white man, would the cop have had his knee on his neck for 8 minutes?" I honestly can't answer that question because if the cop was having a bad day and got any flak, this was one of those events where I could potentially see a bad cop doing that to a white man too. But if someone doesn't think so, then I see how they get to that conclusion too.

I do think this was partially beefed up to fit the agenda. From a societal change standpoint, I don't mind the protests even if the truth were that it wasn't about race. But let's be honest, with 360 million Americans there will be excessive force again against blacks, whites, asians, latinos, etc even if race were to never be an issue so I hope people temper their expectations that you'll never have 100% on anything.

Mrhockey - do we white people let a couple of bad apples fly planes from time to time? Right now we make excuses for bad apples like its been ok - and there is no way to dispute what has been happening for a long time.

I really wish you guys could spend just a time bit of time to watch that 13th documentary - just watch the dam thing to learn how some of our neighbors live every day. I have stood by and let it happen, just like all of us and this shit is not going to change until we decide this is wrong.

Then read General Mathis comments, when we start using words we use to refer to enemies of the country that we dominate, and those of us that have participated in domination know what this means - and its fucking wrong. We need fewer leaders who think this is a battle and that there is a side to win, we win when every American has their basic needs met, not when one group dominates another.

For anybody who thinks that racism is just a crutch or overblown or being manipulated... let's not forget that some of the parents of posters here lived in a society where tens of millions of people didn't think it was right for white children and black children to go to school together.

Now, if you think all of those people have changed their opinion? Cool.
Or, if you think they didn't raise children to think that way. Cool.

We've made great strides to combat racism in this country. But it's a bit myopic to think we've eradicated it completely in the last 50 or 60 years.

The majority of people here like stats when applied to basketball, the truth is in the numbers. Justice is supposed to be blind, we see that image outside of most courthouses in the western world. Justice is disproportionately applied to people of color. Its in the numbers plain and simple. People of color are killed at a much greater rate by police. It is a perversion of justice that follows racial lines, and a product of a racist society, all good intentions aside.

Camden wrote:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/cacQmDFlVlFZclBuUlJLTE98MU1ZR05rbFlhWVpKdwY9fnE4tU_dE5wAe2BV7AqrEsJWzZMYcXMdJsJbf5E1

Thank you for sharing. How dare Cadance not buy into what the media is selling.

bleedspeed177 wrote:

Camden wrote:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/cacQmDFlVlFZclBuUlJLTE98MU1ZR05rbFlhWVpKdwY9fnE4tU_dE5wAe2BV7AqrEsJWzZMYcXMdJsJbf5E1

Thank you for sharing. How dare Cadance not buy into what the media is selling.

Beware: There's an EXCELLENT chance Candace Owens is infinitely more interested in leveraging the Candace Owens brand than anything else.

She turned to conservatism "overnight" in 2017, only two years after she had "no interest whatsover" in politics. I'm sure it had nothing to do with her being a young, attractive black female who would automatically be picked up via social media platforms for saying the types of things attractive black females normally don't say.

But lo and behold, here's this young woman brand-new to politics saying the perfect things... that jive with a certain demographic in an ever-more partisan world. And... she's being propped up while doing so by the Mike Cernovich, Milos Y... and even President Trump eventually. So of course, that leads to her appearance on fringe conspiracy theory websites. And then... eventually, into the pseudo mainstream arena, even appearing on Fox News eventually.

What makes this one random woman's take so astute? Is it because she's been able to craft them over a long storied life of real importance and gravity? Is it based on her real-life experiences? Or, is she a brand/marketer who saw an available lane and pushed it to the floor?

I don't care if Candace Owens was an alt-right conservative. I don't care if she was a screeching liberal. I'm somewhere decidedly, steadfastly in the middle myself.

I'm just pointing out that there are ridiculous long odds that Candace Owen is actually genuine in anything she has to say about virtually anything.

She's going to choose the angle that's best for her career... EVERY time.

Rant over.

Sure, whatever the reason for her platform, it doesn't change that the words coming out of her mouth illustrate the viewpoints of many, including myself.