It's okay everyone, the great Young Thug has cleared the air. He says James Harden doesn't have internet and other rappers need to mind their business.
Just to be clear, The Punisher as a character was an ex cop who avenged his family and is trying to dismantle a criminal ring.
Unfortunately these symbols provoke a lot of emotion. Symbols get co-opted all the time, but this one was problematic from the getgo given that the only time the police make a thin blue line is against protestors - immediately the idea fosters a police vs protestors mentality. But the fact it is used extensively by white supremacists is going to affect the way people see this symbol.
Please stop the "WhY iS iT a CriMe tO SuPpOrT ThE PoLiCe" bit. Some of you are being purposefully obtuse. The "thin blue line" imagery is controversial, and anyone who has been paying any attention to the news over the past several years knows that to be true. The general concept has ALWAYS been controversial, as the origin is the notion that the police are the thin blue line that keeps citizens from devolving into chaos -- it has long been challenged as a dangerous and self-inflated "us versus them" mentality. In recent years, the imagery and slogan have been used routinely to counter-protest the Black Lives Matter movement. Police departments have been admonished for elevating a thin blue line flag over the American flag in the wake of protests. The flag was flaunted during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville as white supremacist protestors marched with tiki torches. There is no doubt that it is now reasonably associated with white supremacy/alt-right political beliefs, rather than just "I personally don't believe all police are bad." It is not coincidental that many people who hold those fundamentally white nationalist beliefs are cheering James on -- the same people who would be whining about how politics have no place in sports if he were to debut a social justice/BLM message on his jersey. A considerable number of people, no matter what side of the issue they fall on, view it as an anti-Black Lives Matter statement. Period. You may personally be anti-BLM. You may personally subscribe to alt-right beliefs. You may be tired of "social justice warriors." You may be tired of black people making a big deal out of what you think is nothing. You may enjoy the Jason Whitlocks and the Terry Crews and the other "controversial" black people you feel dare to be different by constantly criticizing black people and making you feel more comfortable about your own biases. So for you -- sure, the mask doesn't matter. But for many others out there, it 100% does. Based on everything we know about James, I'm of the opinion that he likely thought the mask looked cool and didn't know the underlying meaning. As much thin blue line imagery as we've seen over the past few years, I would not have associated this mask with it. That aside, let's stop pretending that it doesn't matter to the larger public. You can argue that it shouldn't matter, and that's your prerogative, but it will -- especially for an athlete who is already broadly disliked for reasons far less significant than this.
James still able to get out. Here he is giving advice to underprivileged kids who can’t afford masks and don’t understand social distancing. Never mind they are wearing 70s clothes.
Basically "Blue Lives Matter" is like the slogan "White Pride. The is nothing inherently wrong with the slogan. White people should be able to express pride for being White, as anyone else who wants to publicly show pride in who they are. The problem is the slogan "White Pride" was co-opted by white supremacist, and has an ugly culture attached to that slogan. So much, that white people tend to stay away from that specific slogan, because they don't want to be associated with what white supremacist have turned it into. With "Blue Lives Matter", it's the same. The lives of Police officers absolute do matter. The problem is, just like "White Pride", it was started and co-opted by white supremacist to counter, and even troll "Black Lives Matter', a movement that simply started to bring awareness and try to put an end to police brutality. The fact that "Blue Lives Matter" literally wasn't even a thing until "Black Lives Matter" should tell you everything you need to know. So, while a lot of people believe the lives of Police officers matter, they still steer clear of that specific slogan, because they don't want to be thought of as giving their public support of the white supremacist that have co-opted that slogan.
Last I checked Police (especially Police in big cities) are very diverse. What it really is is a dog whistle. Same as the US flag is. People wave them to trigger emotions and it seems to work. Police culture is a strange beast. Just like Hip Hop culture, blue collar worker culture, Yuppy culture. people like belonging to groups and they will use all kinds of things to help identify themselves to others. At the end of the day tribalism rules the left and the right.
I'm rooting for him precisely because I DO think he knows the implications. Good for him...not only for understanding that, but for wearing a mask stating it. or do you believe blue lives DON'T matter?
And that folks, is how to take the attention off China. It wouldn't surprise me if he put "Blue Lives Matter" on his jersey. James seems like a guy that's unembarrassable and absorbs hate on the regular. This should be entertaining
