If a man kneeling during the national anthem makes you uncomfortable but the term ‘Nigger’ does not, then you have bullshit morals.

If someone disrespecting the American flag and the God under which it stands is unacceptable but the word wetback, spic, chinc, or towelhead is tolerated, then your so-called Christianity is cracked.

I once sat in a man’s home as we listened to Obama discuss the race problem in America. The owner of the home told me, “I don’t really see that there is much of a problem. I think it is all overblown and exaggerated.” Within ten minutes of that statement, he referred to the President of the United States as a ‘Bluegum’.

And we tell ourselves it is not about race.

I don’t really know much about the Kaepernick story, I only know what I see on Facebook. I am an uniformed American who knows very little about the history of our country and even less about it’s politics. I am aware of an embarrisingly small amount of what is going on in our world. However, as a man who has historically pumped himself full of lies in an effort to make myself as comfortable as possible, I know bullshit when I see it.

Most of the people I know who are the most outspoken about the Kaepernick/Nike/kneeling issue were born on second base. We had opportunities placed in our lap and were given multiple opportunities to fuck those things up and still land on our feet. And while we stand on second base, praying that a wild pitch gets us to third, we act as if we know what it’s like to get only one turn at bat in a sport which we are unfamiliar.

I know nothing of opression. I have no idea what it feels like to live a life without love and security. Most of the people I know and associate with are people just like me- very white, very priveleged, very entitled, and very ignorant about what it looks life to live on the other side.

I really don’t have much of an opinion about the whole Kaepernick thing. There are people who feel strongly on both sides and presents very valid arguments….and then there are bigots. Many folks see this as a perfect opportunity to camoflauge hate. I understand people not liking it as well as I understand his cause, as much as I am capable (which is not very much.) However, for many folks, to believe that the passion in the opposition has something to do with anything other than race is complete bullshit.

My past is as checkered and sketchy as one’s past can be. I am as flawed of an individual as I have ever known. However, I know what it feels like to drive myself, eyeballs-deep, into a world of depression, addiction and chaos that will make you fight with the desperation that only a drowning man can muster, and when the time comes to reach for a helping hand, you won’t give a fuck whether that hand is black, blue, yellow, brown, or gold.

If this post makes you uneasy, keep scrolling until you find something that comfortably fits your narrative.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake