Discussion: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Calls NFL Anthem Protests ‘Dumb And Disrespectful’ (VIDEO)

Please proceed, white people. Black folks are unused to hearing how they should behave, so this should all be refreshing.

29 Likes

I like you, Justice Ginsburg, but you are wrong in this case.

28 Likes

Another reason to vote for Clinton (as if there weren’t enough already): RBG needs to retire. Soon.

6 Likes

with all due respect I invoke Gibbs Rule #51

‘sometimes you’re wrong’

9 Likes

Those comments will be used as a meme soon.

yeah

1 Like

What I would do is strongly take issue with the point of view that they are expressing when they do that.

I would like to know what “point of view” it is she thinks they are expressing, because I would like to think that RBG wouldn’t take issue with the view that the police shooting unarmed black people is a problem.

11 Likes

So basically just don’t protest. Protest loudly, and you’re disruptive, protest quietly and you’re disrespectful. It would be nice if people would spend less time telling us how to protest, and more time figuring out ways to STOP GIVING US THINGS TO PROTEST ABOUT.

15 Likes

Ohh boy…she went full yenta.

1 Like

The whole controversy is so superficial because it’s rarely ever mention why they’re taking a knee.

9 Likes

Fuck you, Ruth. No, seriously. Fuck you.

And also, if you are Roman Catholic (I am), “taking a knee” is a MORE respectful gesture than just standing there. So it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around it being disrespectful.

8 Likes

I’ll bet you’re loads of fun at parties.

3 Likes

Yes Ruth please tell people how to behave when black men are being used for target practice by cops.
Got a little ghost of your buddy Scalia there floating around you --huh?

Yep. Even RBG is wrong sometimes. She’s still a great Supreme Court Justice.

12 Likes

Indeed. She can be just as stupid as anyone else.

1 Like

In a comment about white people generalizing about how black people should behave, you generalize on how white people should behave.

No real point, just noting the dichotomy.

2 Likes

Protests are supposed to be disrespectful. If you did them respectfully then they are a petition, not a protest.

5 Likes

But it also has connotations of subjugation. So by kneeling to the flag instead of just not standing you also get a subtext of what they are protesting, the subjugation/persecution of African-Americans by the U.S. Government as represented by law enforcement. It really is a pretty solid bit of symbolic protest.

6 Likes

Now she is pissing me off. I really think it’s time to retire and let HRC restock the bench. I long for the days when Justices got that they pretty much have to speak through their decisions and the opinions they write to explain them; their writing is often their smarter, higher self. Gee, is it disrespectful of cops to kill black, Hispanic, and disabled people when they are not threatening someone else’s life? Justice Ginsburg is showing how insulated she’s become from every day life, despite many years of accruing deserved goodwill. She needs a chat with Justice Sotomayor who will get her up to speed on real life and the legitimacy of protest. One protests in ways that get attention; hence the anthem protests.

One last thought: Justice Ginsburg was CLOSE friends with Justice Scalia. Perhaps she hangs out with other people of her elite social class who tend to be conservative or at least live in bubbles of privilege. No doubt, as they sat in their luxury boxes at the NFL games, their perfect days were briefly inconvenienced by the protests and she has picked up some of the opinions that she may have heard in these settings. “Dumb”? Hardly. “Disrespectful”? Perhaps–but intentionally so, since a democracy is only as good as the way in which it treats its most marginal citizens, and the protests are designed to demand that respect be a two-way street, not just a brief pat on the back at the beginning of a sporting event.

3 Likes