Grumpa Joe's Place

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

After watching about nine minutes of Kaepernick’s interview I have some questions of my own.
What is his definition of justice? Does it mean an eye for an eye, or does it mean you are entitled to a trial by a jury of your peers. A few of his points may have some validity like cops assuming all blacks are evil, and are guilty until proven innocent. He cites an example of an experience he had where he and some team mates were moving into a house in an all white neighborhood, and the cops showed up, entered the house unannounced, and began to ask questions. Again, I have a question for Kaepernick. Isn’t the crime rate for young black men higher than any other age or race group? If I were a cop I’d be very careful of how I approached a black guy during a call. My step son was a cop, and he had an experience where he caught a guy leaving the scene of a robbery.(It was in the middle of the night, all businesses were closed and this guy was coming out of a window). He apprehended the guy, but the perp resisted. They wound up in a wrestling match. The man he caught happened to be black. In his futile attempt to escape the perp bit my son on the forearm. Son lost the use of his arm for several weeks due to nerve damage. After the whole thing went down the perp filed a lawsuit against my son citing a violation of his civil rights.
If Colin wants to do some good for his people, and this country he should use his notoriety to teach young, and old men of color not to do stupid things when a gun is pointed at them, or when a cop is shouting stop.

Kaepernick sees only through his black eyes, and does not see what is happening with his white eyes. How can he know that blacks are oppressed when he has not seen the white side of things? He can only assume that the whites are being treated with more justice than the blacks. His idea of justice is warped too. Just means all people are treated fairly. Our system uses a well f=defined set of laws to define how people are to be judged. Our police are trained in methods of restraint, capture, and self-defense. On the self defense side when someone is threatening you, you have but nano seconds to decide how you will react. Often your training will summon you to shoot first and ask questions later. Otherwise your widow may be the one seeking justice, which is usually a sentence to jail.

Kaepernick should be very careful about his scheme to fight for the oppressed it may well backfire on him.

Filed under: Education, Government, Sports | Tagged: Dr. Pamela Gaudry, Kaepernick, oppression, Police brutality, Star Spangled Banner | 1 Comment »