Question the people who are pulling the strings. . . . The reason that sports has always been used as a drive for social change, because that’s the only time they ever listen to us is when we sing, dancing, jumping or running. If you, I think the NFL cares as much about social justice as Donald Trump cared about ASAP Rocky. ‘What I want is your silence, and your obedience and your money. And I want you to break your bodies in service for my entertainment and then I want you to shut up.’ Silence is golden and so are deals that are made with men with ill intent.~DL Hughley
Source: Empressive
A barrel is a type of bucket. A bucket is a water-tight container which can be any shape from cone to square to cylinder. The key to something being a bucket, or barrel, is that it is meant to hold whatever its carrying without a way of escape unless a third party helps the whatever escape (i.e., hands used to tap whiskey from the barrel).
Now, think about the saying crabs in a barrel. We know the mentality is “if I can’t have it then neither can you.” It’s seen in real life with real crabs . . . one tries to escape but gets pulled down by another one in the barrel who then tries to escape itself. In everyday life, we see this type of mentality in rich and poor communities alike. Instead of individuals helping each other get out of the situation they are in, they find a way to pull the other person down and thereby seal their own fate as well. But hardly does anyone ask who created the barrel that trap these crabs, these individuals, in the first place. So, who is the cooper?
In the clip below, comedian, DL Hughley, makes an interesting suggestion that people need to start questioning the people who are pulling the strings. In other words, folks need to start questioning the cooper aka the person or people who made the barrel. So many times, people see the barrel–economic, gender and/or social injustices, disadvantages and inequities–but forget to look for what or who truly created those circumstances aka the barrel.
Hughley also implies that people need to look at the NFL, and both Jay Z and Colin Kaepernick need to realize that the NFL is using both of them. In other words, Jay Z is another Malcolm Jenkins in comparison to Colin Kaepernick. Jenkins doesn’t have the “juice” Jay Z has to calm the Black and Brown communities into submission, and that submission is silence and servitude. According to Hughley, the NFL is more concerned with playing these Black men against each other so none escape the barrel.
But is it true? And does that even make sense? Well, we may think we know the answer to the first question, but intentions of an organization or a person can only be seen over a period of time. So, let’s focus on the second question. Based upon the history of the League in protecting its shield, yes, this does make sense. Case in point, the NFL has been lackadaisical about its implementation of punishment and regulation of domestic violence. It took forever for a decision to be reached about Ray Rice and Kareem Hunt. In 2014, the NFL created an all-female panel to handle its domestic violence policy. Where are the results?
First off, the League, or should we say some of the owners within it, cowered to President Donald Trump because he felt that taking a knee was disrespectful to the flag during the National Anthem. Didn’t some of them help him get elected, so why are they cowering? And why are they letting him dictate how they run their league? So, I guess we know who created the barrel.
Enter in now with Kaepernick, Jenkins and Jay-Z. Here we have the crabs being tossed in a barrel. I once was told don’t become like your tormentors; maybe, these guys need that same advice in this situation. Don’t act like the NFL or the men who run it. Find another way. Don’t let yourself be used. Jay Z, Jenkins and Kaepernick did not create the barrel they now have to face to escape . So, why don’t they try to help each other out so everyone can get out of the barrel?
Better yet, why don’t we as the Black and Brown communities help them find an escape route? We all need to hold the cooper responsible and not just the crabs. Maybe ignorance is bliss, but it won’t be if people start putting their money toward other leagues and hobbies. It also won’t be bliss if the social injustices, inequities and disadvantages start making their way home to roost.
Source: TV One TV