Stephen Ross proves once again that it is an exercise in futility to emotionally invest in the purported good conscience of white liberals. Ross owns the Miami Dolphins, the NFL team whose new discipline policy contains a “Proper Anthem Conduct” section which states that players may be suspended up to four games, and/or fined, for failing to stand during the national anthem. One will recall that the NFL initially suspended Ray Rice two games for knocking out his then fiancé. Recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suspended quarterback Jameis Winston three games for sexually assaulting an Uber driver. Thus, it is absolutely incredulous that the Miami Dolphins is willing to suspend a player four games, and issue a fine for refusing to stand for the national anthem. This is utterly absurd, and a reflection of the racism which permeates the NFL as a whole and individual teams. After new spread about the Dolphins’ policy, the NFLPA and NFL issued a joint statement announcing each had agreed to suspend their respective actions pending discussion on a way forward; thus the NFL would freeze any anthem policy items, including the issuance or enforcement of new rules by teams, and the NFLPA would freeze its grievance litigation. The Miami Dolphins have since issued a “clarification” csserting that the anthem language was simply a “placeholder.”
What makes this situation especially intriguing is that Ross is the founder of RISE, the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. The mission of RISE states that it is “dedicated to harnessing the unifying power of sports to improve race relations and drive social progress. Led by an unprecedented alliance of professional sports leagues, organizations, athletes, educators, media networks and sports professionals, we use sports to promote understanding, respect and equality.” However, like many white liberals, Ross is clearly more interested in performative, virtue signaling than he is in substantive efforts to destroy systemic racism. Ross may have given us a glimpse into what his true feelings were when he stated earlier this year that none of his players would be kneeling for the anthem, a statemen he ended up having to walk back; similar to what he has done when backlash ensued following the leaking of the Dolphins’ intended policy. Now, despite creating an entire organization that is supposedly focused on improving race relations in sports, his franchise has issued a policy which reveals that Ross’s true dedication is to the maintenance of white hegemony and keeping his negroes in line. It appears Martin Luther King was right on point regarding his disdain for white liberal obstruction to progress.
Article below by Steve Gardner at usatoday.com.
The Miami Dolphins could fine or suspend players who kneel or otherwise demonstrate during the national anthem this season.
Read the rest here.
