It hasn't just been street protests. The "hands up, don't shoot" action by five National Football League (NFL) St. Louis Rams players on November 30, as they came into the stadium for their game with the Oakland Raiders, sent a jolt through America. According to the wife of one of the Rams players, they've received death threats for their action, which disrupted America's revolting culture of "things are fine/ignore the oppression of black people," of which the NFL is a big part.
The St. Louis Police Officers Association (SPOA) immediately demanded that the players be punished by the Rams organization and by the NFL. In other words, the pigs can murder people and then dictate what any prominent, influential people can even say anything about it! (The SPOA claimed that Rams officials had apologized, but the Rams denied this, and the NFL refused to sanction the players.)
Meanwhile, "Fans departing the Dome, site of a 52-0 drubbing of the Oakland Raiders, were met by helmeted city police officers, National Guard units, and protesters shouting 'Those killer cops have got to go' and other chants, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported (December 1, 2014). "'Social media wasn't enough,' said Mickey Greer, 22, of Peoria, Ill., who recently joined the protests. 'I decided to step it up and show change with my body by getting out here and doing something.'"
The day after the Rams' "hands up" action, the Time Out Sports Bar & Grill in St. Louis disowned the Rams. "Due to the bone-headed 'hands up, don't shoot' act by the number of Rams players," Time Out declared on its Facebook page it was taking all the pictures and information about the Rams off its walls, and that it would no longer have "Happy Hour" to celebrate Rams games. "We need to stand up to thugs who destroy our community and burn down local businesses, and boycott the other thugs/organizations who support them."
This reaction itself generated a huge reaction. Nearly 40,000 people "liked" the post. But it also got 6,500 comments, many of which denounced the action and forced the bar to retreat a bit, declaring in another post that it wasn't "taking sides" and supported the right to free speech and protest but still opposed the Rams "bringing the protest to a nationwide professional sporting event." It also said that henceforth, "Happy Hour" would only be celebrated for Kansas City Chiefs games. The next night protesters briefly shut down two of Time Out's St. Louis locations (Huffington Post, December 3, 2014).
None of this has stopped some Rams players from continuing to speak out. Sunday, before the Rams' game with Washington (I'll be damned if I'm going to write that team's racist nickname), they made what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called "another societal statement," this time with "I Can't Breathe," referring to the NYPD's choking of Eric Garner to death. According to CBS News on December 8:
Guard Davin Joseph wrote the words on the cleats he wore during pre-game warm-ups. ...Tight end Jared Cook had it written on his wrist tape. Receiver Kenny Britt had several names--including Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin--written on his blue and gold cleats. The names were of black men or teens whose deaths led to protests.
Players at other NFL games expressed similar sentiments. Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush had "I Can't Breathe" written in black across his blue warm-up shirt. Browns cornerback Johnson Bademosi wrote the message on the back of the shirt he wore before a game in Cleveland. San Diego Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram did the same.
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