It’s OK to be white. On Sunday, more than 110 million Americans will huddle around their television sets and watch the 53rd Super Bowl, a matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. After two seasons marred by black NFL players taking a Colin Kaepernick-style knee or raising a ‘Black Power’ fist during...
Read MoreThe Philadelphia Eagles meet the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday (February 4). But, 52 years after it began, this may be the last time the Super Bowl commands American football fans’ undivided attention—because America itself is dividing. World Wrestling Entertainment [WWE]’s Vince McMahon announced January 25 that he is bringing back...
Read MoreGladiatorial contests were the “sport” of choice of the Roman Empire for more than 650 years. Losing gladiators were regularly wounded or killed, outcomes in which the audience often had the final say (thumbs up or down or a closed fist with two fingers extended). Such decisions were reportedly accompanied by screams of “let him...
Read MoreRacism and Violence as Decoys
Millions of football fans must have felt grateful to President Trump for provoking the entire National Football League into a goal line stand last month. The sight of hundreds of players on the sidelines, arms linked with coaches and owners during the playing of the national anthem, not only soothed fears that a disrupted season...
Read More"Taking a knee" stands for the specter of beefy, pampered athletes—they're not sportsmen—wealthy beyond belief, striking a political pose on the football field, during the playing of the national anthem. First to kneel when he was meant to stand was Colin Kaepernick. The reason the San Francisco 49er knelt, in 2016: "I am not going...
Read More"America refuses to address the pervasive evil of white cops killing black men, and I will not stand during a national anthem that honors the flag of such a country!" That is the message Colin Kaepernick sent by "taking a knee" during the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" before San Francisco '49s games in...
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