Tag: Racism

Atlanta restaurant owner offers apologies after kicking black man out over seemingly selectively enforced dress code

Brandon King

from Business Insider: An Atlanta restaurant has apologizedto a Black couple after they were kicked out of the restaurant for not adhering to the dress code. William Johnson, a Black man, was said to have been asked to leave Umi Sushi in Atlanta on October 23 for wearing Nike Air Force 1 sneakers, which violates the restaurant’s dress code. A video that captured the incident showed another woman seated at the restaurant who was wearing tennis shoes. “This is pure racism,” Johnson said in the video. Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories. The…

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Reactions to Kaepernick’s Protest Confirms why he is right

Brandon King

Ever since Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for national anthem, it has somewhat kicked off a national discussion. I say somewhat because the detractors of Kaepernick’s stance, rather than engage in an intellectual dialogue on the issues he is raising, deflects into merely expressing their distaste for his method of protest or would use contrived “disrespect” of the troops as a shield as a tactic to attempt to silence and contaminate the protest.  Almost universally, those who choose to speak out against the action,from the man on the street to…

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Singer at Sacramento Kings’ game kneels while singing the national anthem

Brandon King

Since San Francisco Quarterback Colin Kaepernick took his courageous seat( and subsequent kneel), players from little league to the NFL have joined in the protest. This past Monday at the Sacramento Kings’  preseason game, Leah Tysse took to centercourt for the customary signing of the anthem. For the last line of the second stanza,”O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave, Tysse , on the word “free” kneeled down. On her Facebook page, she explained why she decided to kneel: Although the NBA mandates players, trainers…

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Could we be in the Genesis of renewed sports activism?

Brandon King

The 1960’s were a golden age for athlete activism. Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali and many others used their platforms to speak out against injustices that affected the black community. Tommie Smith and John Carlos used the worldwide stage of the 1968 Olympic Games as a platform to make a statement of pride and power of their people ( much to the chagrin and drawing the ire of then IOC president Avery Brundage). They all did this at major risk of their careers and even their…

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Detractors willing to attack Kaepernick to avoid having real discussion on race

Brandon King

It is well-known that during the San Francisco 49ers’ preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, that 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick did not stand up during the playing of the national anthem. By taking a stand by sitting down, Kaepernick has become a lightning rod, drawing support from those who agree with his stance and the ire of those who do not. I have found the vitriol that has come Kaepernick’s unsurprising , yet saddening and enlightening. It seems that some in the public and media only get angry when…

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