….that is the question. Well, actually, that’s not the question at all. The question, IMHO, is: Does kneeling during the national anthem send the right message? I understand that it’s meant to protest police brutality against blacks in this country, not to disrespect the flag or the country. But the reality is that it DOES disrespect the country and thereby its citizens. Proclaiming that a particular act, albeit disrespectful, is not meant to be disrespectful, does not change the fact that it IS disrespectful.
In the United States, if you were to accidentally kill someone, you cannot be found guilty of murder, but often you will still be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Just because you didn’t intend to kill that person, he or she is still dead and you’re still responsible. The difference is the intent. So it goes with kneeling during the national anthem. The NFL players that chose to kneel during the national anthem, didn’t intend disrespect for the country, but the fact remains that they DID disrespect the country and I cannot and will not ignore that fact so they can make their protest heard.
Let me put it another way. What if certain NFL players chose to burn the American flag before every game as a protest? And they said to America, we do not intend this to be disrespectful of the flag or the country. Would you still be okay with their actions? Both actions desecrate a patriotic symbol of the United States. But I suspect most people would be outraged by the burning of the flag. Why then are they not outraged by the NFL players kneeling during the anthem?
I disagree with President Trump. And I disagree with the peoples’ response to President Trump. The Constitution of the United States gives the NFL players the right to kneel in protest during the playing of the national anthem and unless their NFL contract specifies otherwise, they should not be fired for it. President Trump, like all people who live under the articles of the United States Constitution, is entitled to his opinion. President Trump’s opinion is protected under the first amendment, just like the players’ kneeling during the anthem are protected. President Trump can vehemently protest the NFL players’ actions all he wants. He can call for the NFL to terminate those players if he so desires. But he lacks the power as President of the United States to enact any kind of action that would force the NFL to act on his opinion. Unfortunately, I do not believe that he knows that. Perhaps the general populace that feels outraged by President Trump’s rhetoric, also do not know that.
Personally, I support the NFL players’ right to protest. I think it’s long past time to end racism in the United States. It’s long past time to stop treating minorities as second-class citizens. It’s long past time to stop police brutality.
However, I am greatly angered by the players’ choice to kneel during the playing of the national anthem as their means to protest. I think that the players and those that support them could find a way to protest without angering the very people whose attention, to their cause, they want. If the players really feel so strongly that their cause warrants being disrespectful of the country and its people, then I suggest they go live elsewhere. We will find others to play the game who believe in their hearts, that even with all our faults, the United States is still one of the greatest countries in the world and they would never disrespect this country as the NFL players do, today. So long as the players choose to protest by disrespecting the flag, the country and its citizens, regardless of whether or not that is their intent, and regardless of the fact that their cause is just, I will turn a deaf ear to their cause and ignore the NFL, their televised coverage, and their advertisements.