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Damn Drew Brees, We Liked You! Still Got Kap Messed Up?

Posted byBy Rhett Butler | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Drew Brees? No, not you…

You were my guy that made the Saints electric and defined the “Who Dat” nation. But today, you disappointed me with your limited knowledge of your former peer, Colin Kaepernick.

If you hadn’t heard, Drew Brees was asked about Kaepernick’s protest in relation to the current global protest movement.

“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Let me just tell you what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States.

“I envision my two grandfathers, fought for this country during World War II, one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. Both risking their lives to protect our country and try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about,” he said.

https://twitter.com/kennybeats/status/1268285941870768128?s=20

So people of color never had relatives that served during the major world wars, Drew?

Last I checked, African-Americans were in every branch of the armed services, which were formally segregated. I also remember, these same patriots of color coming back to a country that still looked at them as trash. No jobs, no opportunity, and still the ever present threat of danger for your life.

This is also the legacy of those who served.

In addition, the fact that this country refuses to acknowledge its original sin of slavery with a concession. The descendants of the Diaspora need an apology and recompense and the fact that it isn’t completed yet is the reason we feel aggrieved, Drew.

If You Won’t Listen To Us, Listen To Billionaire Bob

Black Entertainment Television co-founder Robert Johnson dropped a bomb on CNBC Monday. He said the U.S. government should provide $14 trillion of reparations for slavery to help reduce racial inequality.

https://twitter.com/BlackAmCaucus/status/1267472990683508737?s=20

“Now is the time to go big” to keep America from dividing into two separate and unequal societies, Johnson said on “Squawk Box.

“Wealth transfer is what’s needed,” Johnson added. “Think about this. Since 200-plus-years or so of slavery, labor taken with no compensation, is a wealth transfer. Denial of access to education, which is a primary driver of accumulation of income and wealth, is a wealth transfer.”

Johnson, 74, became a billionaire in 2001 when he sold BET to Viacom. Soon after, he started the investment firm, The RLJ Cos. Johnson believes what all African-Americans know, the wealth divide and police brutality against blacks are at the heart of protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd.

Johnson called reparations the “affirmative action program of all time.” It would signal that America acknowledges “damages that are owed” for the unequal playing field created by slavery.

Drew Down

The systemic racism that permeates America created a Drew Brees. The ability to whitewash the truth is something only the privileged can do.

If Drew Brees really wanted to say something impactful, it shouldn’t have been just to espouse his love for this country. He should have placed an addendum, that he understands that the origin and current lack of change since the national anthem’s creation is what led Kap to take a knee.

Not disrespect to the troops.

But in respect and deference to the troops of color and all persons of color that are all united by struggle. If Drew Brees would hop of the All-American quarterback schtick and just be a man, he would recognize the layers of pain wrapped in America.

Talk solutions, Brees, not your unchanged small-windowed perception.

 

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