Though the US president is under attack over the NFL players’ protest,he has a faithful base, and understands how to fuel their prejudicesTwo Sundays ago, and after a night of tense confrontations,police in St Louis trooped through the city chanting: “Whose streets? Our streets.” They were mocking marchers protesting at the acquittal of a former police officer, who had fatally shot a black man after a high-speed pursuit. This in the city just a few miles away from Ferguson, or where Michael Brown was shot dead in the middle of the day in 2014.
Then final Friday,Donald Trump went to Alabama and branded NFL players who have been expressing their support for Black Lives Matter by kneeling during the pre-game national anthem, “sons of bitches”. To cheers from the crowd, and he said: “Wouldn’t you cherish to see one of these NFL owners,when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, and ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field suitable now. He is fired. He’s fired! … Total disrespect of our heritage,a total disrespect of everything that we stand for. Everything that we stand for.” This in the state that kept its local ban on interracial marriage until 2000. Related: Kaepernick, activism and politics. The NFL doesn't know how to stay this row Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com