St. Louis Rams Players Enter Field With "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" Pose

[WilliamPitt]

St. Louis Rams players recognized this week's Ferguson protests with an emphatic gesture during player introductions when several members of the team's receiving corps entered the field in the "hands up, don't shoot" pose.

Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Chris Givens, and Kenny Britt came out with their hands up, before being joined by the rest of the team to start the game.

Video: http://deadspin.com/rams-players-enter-field-with-hands-up-dont-shoot-1664860731

[grahamhgreen]

1. Reminds me of:

[Brigid]

2. Yes, I remember that.

I was ten.

[grahamhgreen]

3. I believe they lost their medals.

[rhett o rick]

6. They did get expelled from the Games. The Nazi salutes in 1936 were ok

but Tommie Smith and John Carlos's "human rights" salute was cause for banishment.

[heaven05]

69. My heart almost burst with pride at these two

I was twenty. In Vietnam. It uplifted a lot of us who were fighting the Confederates in our company.

[jmowreader]

36. They kept their medals but were kicked out of the Olympics

[cwydro]

50. I remember that too.

I was twelve,

[marym625]

29. Love it!

[Scuba]

4. Good on them!!!

[JohnnyRingo]

5. Now that's how to protest.

After a week of burning things down, stopping mass transit, and other unproductive ways of protest that probably did more to alienate public sentiment than it did to garner support, the Rams nail it on national TV.

These men are heroes to many who don't normally give a crap one way or the other about Michael Brown or the perceived lack of justice that culminated in a failed grand jury indictment. Hopefully, at least some will finally get an inkling that there's a police enforcement problem that demands national attention.

Of course there will still be those who have absolutely no respect for racial accord, but there's no bringing them on board anyway. These are the ignorant couch potatoes who see NFL players as their personal slave labor and consistently side with team owners on lower compensation for their talents and injuries. I'm sure everyone knows at least one of these slovenly armchair coaches.

Overall, a good day of progress as I see it.
Go Rams! With the Browns tanking in the 4th, today I'm a St Louis fan.

[noiretextatique]

8. there were some peaceful protests are well

all over the country, in fact, and outside this country as well. but those are not as good for ratings, and outrage.

[arcane1]

9. Yep. Nobody sits through a commercial break to see more footage of a candlelight vigil

But they will ALWAYS stay tuned for more mayhem and fear! Yes indeed!

[noiretextatique]

12. it's good for business! eom

[Scootaloo]

24. Especially if it reaffirms assumptions about blacks someone already has!

[rpannier]

32. Just out of curiosity, What is the Proper Way to Protest?

[LiberalElite]

35. Apparently you have to be

very polite and mindful not to piss off anyone.

[JohnnyRingo]

37. A way that effectively sheds light on an issue...

..and doesn't repulse people who are either unaware or on the fence. That seems like common sense to me, and I'm unclear as to your inquiry. Most of the country saw such peaceful protests in the days following the news release, and the Rams used it to great effect today.

I can think of no social issue in history that has ever been resolved by breaking windows or setting anything ablaze, can you?

I'm old enough to have protested the Vietnam War in the '60s, and I'm sure there are those who still to this day believe that sit-ins and electric guitars ended that war. The truth is, it was giving the right to vote to 18 year old draft bait and a media awakening that brought about policy change. Personally, I think that's a lesson for the downtrodden citizens of Ferguson and elsewhere.

Voting and peaceful protest are powerful tools for change, but only if it's exercised by the majority. Images of violence just plays heavily into the hand of the oppressors.

[uppityperson]

38. I am already hearing outrage over this action today. "How dare they mix politics with sports!"

[FairWinds]

39. Yeah, that and the mass mutinies and desertions among the troops . .

seriously, look it up. Not trying to be a smart ass . .
"I'm old enough to have protested the Vietnam War in the '60s, and I'm sure there are those who still to this day believe that sit-ins and electric guitars ended that war. The truth is, it was giving the right to vote to 18 year old draft bait and a media awakening that brought about policy change."

[rpannier]

43. I would disagree

I've seen analysis by many historians who have said that it's only when the powerful are in fear for their safety and their wealth that real change actually occurs

[MyNameGoesHere]

60. winner. That is what history has shown eom

[kiri]

63. protests are in vain if no voters

Change occurs only when council members, the mayor, and cops are worried about keeping their jobs. The failure so far to get the African-American community registered to vote, and have candidates, and a GOTV plan assures that all the protests are in vain.

[JohnnyRingo]

74. That makes sense.

I should have known better than to laud the Rams for their useless display of peaceful protest to begin with and realized I'd get a great deal of pushback here from those with more reasonably liberal ideals than myself.

Considering what you say, I now understand that the team would have made greater headway in resolving the racial issues in St Louis had they'd just set fire to their own locker room, looted the nacho stand on their way to the field, and offered their middle fingers to the fans and TV cameras after punching out a couple NFL officials. I wasn't thinking.

I'm grateful that you didn't tell me to take my peaceful protest bullshit back to Free Republic or alerted on me for being disruptive, hurtful, or otherwise insensitive to the problems in Ferguson.

I feel like the old people in A Clockwork Orange.

[rpannier]

78. Sarcasam of yours not-withstanding

In 6 months and several dozen more dead black kids and adults later you'll probably still be here encouraging only peaceful reactions.
We saw how well that worked with Occupy Wall Street. There were such significant changes that they've gone back to the same behavior as before.
I do wonder what would have happened if a couple of them had been shot at or taken out by a less tolerant public

[KingCharlemagne]

44. Um, you're ignoring the fact that the soldiers in the North Vietnamese Army

and the South's National Liberation Front were tough fighters who could take on the world's most powerful military and fight it to a standstill. General Giap (Dien Bien Phu, Tet '68) must rank as one of the 2-3 greatest military geniuses of the 20th Century, imo.

[lovemydog]

46. The American revolution, abolition of slavery, end of child labor laws,

women's suffrage, the French revolution, anti-colonization movements, ending apartheid, the right to form unions, pretty much anything anywhere that led to greater democracy.

I'm responding to your question: "I can think of no social issue in history that has ever been resolved by breaking windows or setting anything ablaze, can you?"

The organizers and large majority of protesters protest peacefully. Black unarmed people getting killed by police, with no consequences. It has happened dozens of times in the past few years, hundreds and thousands of times throughout our history. It has got to stop. Black lives matter.

[morningfog]

54. Fuck the people on the fence.

Rioting can be righteous, effective and necessary. There is great politics and symbolism in the shared expression if rage and anger of an oppressed people. Fence sitters are false friends or worse.

[JohnnyRingo]

70. You won me over.

I should have known better than to laud the Rams for their useless form of peaceful protest to begin with, and realized I'd get a great deal of pushback.

You've convinced me that it would have been much more effective in ending racism if the team had set fire to their own locker room, looted the nacho stand on the way to the field, and raised a middle finger to the fans and TV cameras, perhaps punching an official in the process.

I wasn't thinking, posting that kind of shit here. Thanx for showing great restraint in not telling me to take my peaceful protest nonsense back to Free Republic or alerting on my disruptive or otherwise hurtful comment.

Now I know how the old people in A Clockwork Orange felt.

[morningfog]

76. As I said, fuck the fence sitters.

Your failure of understanding is that the purpose of the rage has absolutely zero to do with winning anyone over. It is railing against those who condone injustice, perpetrate injustice and ignore injustice. Fence sitters need not be coddled or wooed.

If you don't understand the motivation, you can't presume to know the proper way to achieve it.

[JohnnyRingo]

77. Change requires consensus in a democracy.

The Jim Crow era would have never ended unless most Americans were ready to move forward. No war ever ended while the majority of us were cheering it on, and marijuana only became legal after the generations who understood it's relative innocuous nature came of age.

Educating the fence sitters and winning people over to our cause is the only way to bring about permanent change. If we could bully the govt into changing for a minority of us, our children would have to wear hoods to school and gay people would face the death penalty.

Democracy moves somewhat slowly, but it eventually creates a government that is a mirrored image of society. I believe it's always more effective to educate and recruit rather than burn and plunder.

[morningfog]

79. Education and recruitment has never been the sole prong or avenue for change.

Social movements have historically been supplemented with anger, rage and riots. Often violence is the only way to get the attention of the comfortable beneficiaries of the status quo. Real change occurs when there are two prongs of action.

However, the rioters are not looking to build a consensus. They are not seeking to expand support. They are expressing rage. And for good reason. The peaceful movers benefit from the violent actions.

[treestar]

58. Without committing a crime

like arson or vandalism? Geez.

[heaven05]

71. The authorities only understand violence and fires

and see peaceful protest as weak. Why do I say that? A certain segment of society, that did sit-in's and other forms of peaceful protest are STILL fighting for equal justice and equal human and civil rights under the law since..........forever. People who have all their rights guaranteed, so far, can't seem to understand this fact.

[JohnnyRingo]

72. You have a point.

I should have known better than to laud the Rams players here for their form of peaceful protest to begin with, and realized I'd catch a great deal of flak from those with more liberal ideals than myself.

Thanks to your input, I now understand that the team would have been far more effective in ending racism if the St Louis players had set fire to their own locker room, looted the nacho stand on their way to the field, and given the middle finger to the fans and TV cameras after punching out a couple NFL officials. I just wasn't thinking. Shame on them for being such pussies.

...and thank you for showing such great restraint in not telling me to take my peaceful protest bullshit back to Free Republic or alerting on me for my disruptive and otherwise insensitive post.

Now I finally know how those old people felt in A Clockwork Orange.

[heaven05]

75. No flak about the rams from me

but you missed my point. Yet as someone who has never faced what black people face on a daily basis, laying dead in the street for 5 hours after being shot unarmed multiple times by a piglikewilson and other modern day lynchings, how could you really understand the paranoia. But hey, this is amerikkka, ya got to luv it.......

[noiretextatique]

7. rw heads will explode

GOOD,

[different equation]

13. Let the right wing heads explode..

They don't have a clue, and never will...kick this

[noiretextatique]

14. kick

there will be no brain matter on the walls

[logosoco]

10. And then they went on to stomp the competition!

Not that I care about football, but my husband just informed me.

Good on the Rams!

[rurallib]

11. folks just want their sports stars to be performers and that is all

do you suppose the NFL will give them a fine?

[ReRe]

21. If there is a fine...

... I'm sure they will gladly pay it.

[Brigid]

26. That would be a monumentally stupid thing for the NFL to do.

I hope they aren't considering it.

[calimary]

31. Truly. They already have enough poo on their collective face.

[Fumesucker]

40. It would be better publicity for the players and the cause if the NFL did decide to punish them..

Never interrupt your opponent while he is making a mistake. -Napoleon Bonaparte

[Maineman]

15. Perfect. The demand for systemic change needs to be a broad movement.

By all races, even politicians, whatever planet they are from.

[gordianot]

16. Spot on compare that to the once Cardinal Nation.

Whose fans denied civil rights who chant insults and smear the good name of the baseball Cardinals. This gesture gives me hope.

[Moostache]

17. Right wing racists are outraged on Rams gameday internet chat...

I briefly argued with one of them but saw no reason to continue when no reasonable statements were forthcoming.

The conservative mind is preconditioned to accept the police officer's version of ANYTHING....remember back to Rodney King's beating, even though that was ON TAPE, the majority of conservatives I knew thought that King was entirely to blame for not surrendering and staying down. Same goddamn thing here.

St. Louis is still a seething racial grievance hotbed right now. Michael Brown's execution is just one of many things boiling under a lid that cannot hold...we have near total segregation in the region, minorities have suffered a far deeper and longer recession since 2007 and really this is a situation that extends back to the civil rights movement of the 60's.

This issue is not going away and nor should it.

[MoonRiver]

18. AWESOME!

[barbtries]

19. i love that!

i was never a fan even when they were in LA, but i feel differently now.

[Omaha Steve]

20. Just a few weeks ago...

Many people were mad at the players union (NFLPA) over off the field antics. Do you think they could do this in St Louis without a union in that politically charged environment?

K&R!

OS

[bbgrunt]

22. I think I just became a football fan--Rams no less

[ReRe]

23. K&R

Great support for the Ferguson protesters. I'm sure they were all heartened by this public gesture!

[mainstreetonce]

25. Wherever he is

I hope Wilson was watching that game.

[marym625]

30. Ha!

Awesome thought!

[ALBliberal]

27. Love this

I always am uncomfortable with all the right wing sports fans being so blind to the personal side of the AA athletes they depend on for their teams to succeed. This says so much to that faction of fans.

[maced666]

28. LOL Kenny Britt?! Omg he has lengthy history with police -

Maybe they should have just sent out justfour, this guy is a walking arrest record-
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt was arrested on three charges Tuesday afternoon after a car chase in his hometown of Bayonne, N.J., FOXSports.com has learned. Britt has had run-ins with the law three times in the past 16 months, which could make him susceptible to NFL suspension once the lockout ends.
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/kenny-britt-police-chase-tennessee-titans-arrested-041211

Before all that - - -
DWI -
Outstanding traffic warrrants for false statements on his driver's license application.
Ticket for driving without a license.
Lawsuit over his alleged role in a Nashville bar fight.
Charges for resisting arrest after police confronted him over what they thought was marijuana possession.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8183998/tennessee-titans-receiver-kenny-britt-arrested-dwi-army-base

[morningfog]

55. Sounds like he is quite qualified to protest

police acts of violence. I'm not seeing your point.

[FarPoint]

57. It appears this one is a friend of fox...

the link is of the propaganda category. So, now we know.

[DeSwiss]

33. K&R

[FarPoint]

53. We here at DU could use the " hands up" Avatar.

I like it.

[kath]

34. Too bad all five of those players are black.:-( Where were their white teammates??

[morningfog]

56. How is that too bad? Wtf?

[kath]

62. It's great that those five guys did it, but would have been nice if some whites had joined in.

A solidarity thing.

[NCTraveler]

66. Where are their black teammates? nt.

[Dont call me Shirley]

41. Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Chris Givens, and Kenny Britt. Good job guys!

Your act of protest took courage and real strength. You have just helped the trend to grow.

Hands Up! Don't Shoot!

PS Way to Win your game today!

[Blue_In_AK]

42. St. Louis police department association demands apology

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/11/30/stl-police-officers-association-condemns-rams-display/19721979/?hootPostID=56e4d621f410c5ee1ef0c0b0696f34f8

"I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Well I've got news for people who think that way, cops have first amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours. I'd remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertiser's products. It's cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do. Somebody needs to throw a flag on this play. If it's not the NFL and the Rams, then it'll be cops and their supporters."

Piggies got their itty-bitty feelings hurt. And this sounds like a threat to me.

[davsand]

47. How about the people who want justice for Mike Brown? Do they get to demand that?

Do the citizens of Ferguson get to demand a Prosecutor that does his f**king job? How about demanding a police force that doesn't shoot unarmed kids--do we get to demand that? Maybe we just need to demand that public servants follow the laws.

Yeah an apology for exercising a Constitutionally protected right...that will solve ALL the problems.



Laura

[Systematic Chaos]

73. +1 for your post!

And then +999,999 for good measure!

[mountain grammy]

45. I support them 100%

[KingCharlemagne]

48. Thank you for posting this. Of related interest is the Rams' Facebook fan page which

can seriously use some DU love:

https://www.facebook.com/Rams?fref=nf

[nilesobek]

49. When the Ref holds up his two hands, straight up,

it signifies a touchdown, 6 points. The Ferguson protestors adopted that gesture also to remind police they are unarmed and the boy they shot was unarmed. Every time a Ref raises both his hands up it will remind me of this.

[cwydro]

52. This

a great post.

[cwydro]

51. And now

the St Louis police are demanding an apology.

Don't know how to post links on my phone lol, but I've seen it on several news sites.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

61. And this morning Joe Scar

is having an aneurysm over it.

[TNNurse]

64. So the St Louis Police Organization

Is outraged and offended by football players holding their arms in the air. They want some sort of punishment.

I am outraged and horrified by unarmed Black men being gunned down by police officers (and others). I also want some sort of punishment

They can not be compared.

[PeoViejo]

65. Poor Police, got their Silk Panties up their crack.

All you get
is a Quartet
Suck it up, Piggies.

[napkinz]

67. K&R

nt

[heaven05]

68. I am so glad

that the rip roaring football fans got a taste of reality. Joseph scaronthefaceofamerikkka is said to have almost had a stroke behind these players showing SOLIDARITY with ferguson's residents protesting the injustice as given to this country by the GJ and mccolic. Great stuff and I have a new respect for NFL, somewhat.