#BlackLivesMatter on the football field, off the field all bets are off #SweetHomeAlabama Edition

EYE report what You decide

“In this moment in history, we can’t be silent.” pic.twitter.com/YF4ndJSpa0

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) June 25, 2020

So, it took Minneapolis, MN police officer Derek Chauvin literally taking a knee on George Floyd's neck, killing him live and in living color for  8 minutes and 46 seconds for some (not to be confused with all) #Colonizers to wake up and smell the coffee and realize why Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players took a knee during the National Anthem. Yes, EYE know that was a run-on sentence but EYE digress.  The realization racist/racism has the potential to hit them where it really hurts...in their wallets and pocketbooks.

EYE suspect someone in the school of business at the University of Alabama developed a marketing plan to try and plug the holes and stop the Rising Tide ship from sinking. Let's not pretend black male athletes don't make up a high percentage of collegiate student-athletes.  

A new report from the Center for American Progress concludes that colleges and universities are making a great deal of money on football and men’s basketball – sports where African American men make up a large percentage of all athletes – while the African American athletes are not adequately reaping the benefits of this money-making machine.
The report states that “Black male college athletes are getting a bad deal. Their work on the court and the field generates vast profits for the NCAA, member colleges, and TV networks, yet student-athletes receive no share of the profits they generate. Moreover, the majority of black student-athletes participate in sports with the highest risks of physical injury.”

Despite the popular opinion of some African Americans care about their student-athletes.  Sure they would like for them to play in the #NFL and become rich and famous but at what cost?  What self-respecting black parents want to send their student to play in a state still flying the Confederate Flag, hanging nooses, EYE mean garage door pulls, burning crosses, and protecting Confederate monuments?  It's not like they don't have options.

“The [recruiting] process started before the season,” former Howard coach Gary Harrell told The Undefeated. “Caylin’s father [Cecil Newton Sr.] wanted something different for him. He could have gone anywhere in the country, and they could have paid his tuition anywhere. But they wanted an HBCU [historically black college or university], and they figured if it’s going to be an HBCU, why not the school that is considered to be the highest of all HBCUs.”

Everybody knows the University of Alabama is Trump Country so EYE have to question the motivation behind the PSA. 

EYE just do. 

EYE am "shocked and appalled" someone left a noose at the first race in Alabama after NASCAR announced it had banned Confederate flags at races and on NASCAR property

Shocked EYE tell you!

“I am shocked and appalled to hear of yesterday’s vile act against Bubba Wallace in Talladega — there is no place for this disgusting display of hatred in our state,” Ivey said in a statement. “Racism and threats of this nature will not be condoned nor tolerated, and I commit to assisting in any way possible to ensure that the person responsible for this is caught and punished. While the important conversation of racial reconciliation is ongoing all over our country, it is clear there is much work to do. Bubba Wallace is one of us; he is a native of Mobile and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state. I ask the NASCAR family to rally around Bubba and his team as they compete today and I know that there are more people who are wishing him well today than ever before.”

Says the Governor who signed the Confederate Monument Protection Act but EYE digress.

EYE am so NOT shocked 

The Confederate flags that once flew openly around the infield and stands are still for sale across the street. NASCAR hasn't disclosed how it will handle fans flying flags.

Nor am EYE so NOT surprised 

This is why we can’t have nice things in Alabama. Because the redneck jokes write themselves when a bunch of hillbillies get all riled up over not being able to fly their traitor flag at their car racing/beer drinking event.

Fake shock and awe aside you can't have it both ways.  You are either for preserving Confederate monuments and symbols or you are not and this is who/what represents "the disgusting displays of hate" in #SweetHomeAlabama.  It all starts in the home.  Parents are the first teachers. 

“I will teach my grandkids to hate you all” pic.twitter.com/f2IO0awyjg

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) June 22, 2020

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

"Shame. Notice the police protecting them. No riot gear. No tear gas. No rubber bullets. He has his back to them scanning the crowd because he identifies with them."

#WeTriedToTellYa 

"The danger of Donald Trump is much more extent to my community," Reid said. "It's much more extent to both my immigrant relatives, to African-Americans, to Latinos, it's not about whether or not we can regain our public standing on the world stage and be seen as America, as America was, to people who look like me, it's about imminent danger."
"Donald Trump is dangerous to our families, he's dangerous to our lives," Reid warned. "The, you know, my son, my -- our youngest son goes to Syracuse University, where right now, you know, the manifesto of the Texas shooter is being sent around to immigrant students, to black students, to Asian-American students."

"Racism shouldn't be a part of college campus culture"

📷 A threat has been issued against Howard University students tonight at 10pm. Praying for my alma... https://t.co/AFBPr5G0QD

— Melech E. M. Thomas (@MelechT) November 12, 2015

OK, it's official.  Recent events have shown us they hate us for our freedom, but the question is why? What could we have possibly done to deserve such...hatred?  There was a time EYE believed the old, die heart racist would well....die, but they aren't dying, they are multiplying, breeding a new generation of Haters.

Please read this article and take about 4 minutes to watch the video produced by University of Alabama Students about racism and being called the N-word on campus.  At last count there were 1823 comments posted, most of them by white conservatives.  Read them too.




Then read a letter from a Virginia teen as he details daily racial abuse he faces in middle school.

RedEye tip toeing away from the computer to go pray.