10/11/17, "
Derek Jeter: It’s OK if Marlins players want to take a knee," NY Post, Zach Braziller
"Derek Jeter wouldn’t say whether he would take a knee during the
national anthem if he still were playing, but the Marlins’ new co-owner
and future Hall of Famer
wouldn’t have a problem if one of his players
chose to protest social injustice and police brutality by doing so.
“Peaceful protest is fine,” the Miami CEO said Wednesday at the 21st
annual Turn 2 Foundation Dinner at Cipriani on Wall Street. “You have a
right to voice your opinion, as long as it’s a peaceful protest.”
As a player, Jeter rarely discussed social issues. But when asked his
feelings about athletes taking a knee, which has become a major topic
of discussion since former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a
knee last year as a form of protest and has been followed by many other
NFL players,
he had no problem sharing his opinion. One MLB player,
Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell, has taken a knee.
Growing up biracial in Michigan, Jeter faced racism, and has said it shaped his life.
“The thing that I think is probably frustrating with this whole
rhetoric that’s going back and forth is
people lose sight of why someone
was kneeling,” Jeter said. “They’re focused so much on the fact they
are kneeling, as opposed to what they are kneeling for.”
Jeter made baseball news this week, when he
poached former Yankees vice president of player development
Gary Denbo to join the Marlins as director of player development and
amateur scouting. So far, Jeter is enjoying his return to baseball.
“I’ve always been pretty vocal in my career [that] when I was done, I
wanted to be part of an ownership group,” he said. “That was the second
dream. Now I’m getting an opportunity to live that.”
But he still has made time to follow his old team. Jeter has kept
tabs on the Yankees from their victory in the wild-card game through the
ALDS against the Indians, and he has been impressed.
“They’re doing well,” the legendary Yankees shortstop said. “A lot of
them I worked with at the minor league complex [when he was still
playing]. A lot of the players I saw when they were 17, 18 years old.
It’s fun to watch. Yankees fans have a lot of years watching [these]
guys.
“It’s more exciting [for me] to have had the opportunity to see them develop, and turn into the players they are now.”"
.............................
Among comments to this article at Lucianne.com:
"Another role model bites the dust."
...........................
My comment: Jeter is an elitist asshole. This has absolutely nothing to do with free speech nor how worthy the cause is--whether from his or his players' point of view. It's a form of "bait and switch." If I expend time and expense traveling to a store to shop for an appliance and the employees are "peacefully" taking a knee outside or inside the store in observance of a particular social or political cause, I'm not going to buy from that store. I have no respect for a business that would conduct itself in that fashion. The media and the entire political class constantly try to find new ways to incite hatred and division in our society. Some of us aren't into groupthink. You're free to do whatever you want on your own time. Derek, despite all the good things your parents did for you, they apparently didn't teach you the difference between right and wrong.
Stumbleupon
StumbleUpon
