Some Conservatives Are Invoking Chicago Violence To Discredit NFL Players' Take-A-Knee Protests

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 25, 2017 5:55PM

Members of the Detroit Lions take a knee during the playing of the national anthem prior to the start of the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Ford Field on September 24, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

Manipulating Chicago violence into a conservative talking point has long been a preferred tactic among a contingent of the right—and one that President Donald Trump has elevated to a stock-in-trade. So we weren't surprised to see our city's violent crime invoked by the right-leaning social-media commentariat again as a means to discredit NFL players who took a knee during the national anthem on Sunday.

The most prominent missive came courtesy of Tomi Lahren, the conservative commentator who once compared Black Lives Matter to the Ku Klux Klan.

"Guessing you're not kneeling to bring awareness to 500 homicides in Chicago this year. The 'oppression' you recognize is rather selective...," she posted on Twitter on Sunday morning.

Well-known conspiracy-minded vlogger Mark Dice seconded the sentiment. "Another Update. 36 black people shot each other this weekend in Chicago. But hey. #TakeTheKnee to protest Trump, right? Stupid liberals," he said on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of an NBC5 story about weekend shootings.

One of the most full-throated pushbacks against the Lahrens and Dices of the world came via Jemele Hill, who, like so many NFL players now, personally knows what it's like to have the White House call for your job after speaking out in a fashion the administration dislikes. (White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Hill should be fired for calling the president a white supremacist, and Trump demanded an apology.)

"Especially when those same ppl haven't lifted a finger re: Chicago, and only use it a racially-charged dog whistle," she tweeted on Monday.

"Those same people" was a reference to a tweet made by former CNN contributor Roland Martin, who posted, "Gotta love dumb folks who don't realize I lived in Chicago for six years, focused on this issue, AND have done so on @CNN and @tvonetv," after one user accused him of parachuted-in pseudo-concern.

Here in Chicago, influential scholar and poet Eve Ewing posted in reference to Lahren's comments, "You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we do/don;t protest here. You don't care. Don't you fix your mouth to speak our name."

A wave of NFL players showed solidarity with protesting teammates on Sunday, in the wake of Trump's weekend tirade against players who protest during the national anthem. Many around the league locked arms, kneeled or both, and several raised fists. Chicago Bears players locked arms on Sunday during a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" ahead of their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, aside from one player, remained in the locker room during the anthem "to remove ourselves from the circumstance," as coach Mike Tomlin said. No Chicago Bears player has yet taken a knee since still-unsigned quarterback Colin Kaepernick spearheaded the protests last year. He took a knee to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

Chicagoans in recent months have protested and held peace marches against violence and held vigils for victims of gun violence. The city surpassed 500 homicides earlier this month.