Jason Burle thought it would be a good idea to place the jerseys of NFL stars and social-justice advocate Marshawn Lynch and Colin Kaepernick side-by-side as doormats before the entrance of his bar, called SNAFU, in Lake Ozark, Missouri — in that order. Thus the makeshift doormat read “Lynch Kaepernick.”
TELL ME AGAIN...that #TakeAKnee isn't about race. This Ozarks bar made a doormat from 2 #NFL jerseys; "Lynch Kaepernick" #ImWithKaep #Resist pic.twitter.com/yEimSpbYd9
— Chet Powell (@ChetPowell) September 28, 2017
See how that works?
Of course, Kaepernick began the movement of kneeling for the national anthem before NFL games to protest police brutality and racial injustice in America. Marshawn Lynch is another player who has participated in what is now a widespread protest.
Burle claims he placed the jerseys as doormats as a counter-protest to the NFL protests. It had, he insists, nothing to do with race.
"They were placed the way they came out of the box," Burle said of the jerseys in an interview with KOMU. "There was no ill intent.” Okay.
After the media outcry, Burle switched the jerseys around to read “Kaepernick Lynch.” He insists that it wasn't meant to be racist and, as a veteran, he is just trying to support those who serve, according to ABC7. SNAFU is largely themed around honoring the military.
A passerby, Taylor Sloan, took to social media to express his distaste for the doormats in their original "Lynch Kaepernick" configuration. “It put a bad taste in my mouth,” he told KOMU, a Missouri TV station. “It just really upsets me when I see people put a faux patriotism guise on racism.”
In a now-deleted Facebook thread, Burle responded to Sloan, saying “It’s funny to me that someone would look that far deeply into it just to find a racist link.”Apparently simply knowing how to read means you’re looking “far deeply into it” — the racial insinuation is that obvious. Unless, of course, you have literally no knowledge of the systematic racism and violence black people have endured in the United States for centuries.
Or, y'know, if you're into it.
Shares