some thoughts on kneeling during the national anthem

Since nobody in particular asked, I thought I would add my two cents to the National Anthem/NFL debate.

During the time I participated in sports through high school and then in college, the anthem was played at just about every event, except perhaps little league games.  Nobody missed the fact that the anthem was not played at little league games.  Nobody demanded that it be played.  At the organized high school and college games, everyone stood at attention during the anthem.  It was just the thing we did without thinking about it at all at the time.  If the anthem was not played, very few, if any, would have demanded to hear it.  At the games I played when the anthem was not played, nobody called a timeout to demand it be played.  Nobody missed the fact that it was not played at all.  Frankly, for many of us playing in the games, the anthem was an interruption in our pre-game preparation that we knew was coming, we knew we had to stand politely for, and we just wanted to get over with so we could get on with our preparations and the game itself.  Patriotism, real or otherwise, had nothing to do with it.

How or why the anthem came to be played before just about all games is not relevant to this discussion, other than to note that in the NFL, which seems to be the controversy du jour, it was not until 2009 that the teams even came out onto the field prior to anthem being played.  It was only when the government thought that in the interests of patriotism and recruiting folks to join the military that the teams were trotted out to stand at attention on the sidelines.

And they only did this because our government, in their great judgment about where to spend our money, paid the billionaire NFL owners millions annually simply to have a somewhat elaborate and entirely unnecessary pageant/ceremony associated with the flag and the anthem before each game.

Query whether or not the owners would have made the players come out and stand for the anthem if they were not getting paid to have them do it.  That stands for Jerry Jones, who owned his team prior to 2009 and who never made the players come out and stand for the anthem before he was paid to do it, and now says any of his guys who do not stand will be immediately fired.  I for one am really looking forward to Dez Bryant, Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott, et. al. taking Jerry up on this, and watching him run out onto the field and fire them on the spot, thereby eliminating the possibility that the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year or that any minority NFL superstar, or anyone for that matter, will ever want to sign to play for the Cowboys again.

So there is no requirement by law that says anyone, including NFL players, has to stand for the anthem, although many folks think they should.  In fact, there is Supreme Court precedent in connection with the Pledge of Allegiance that says we cannot be forced to stand.  There is also nothing in the NFL collective bargaining agreement that says the players have to stand; therefore, as a condition of their employment, they do not have to, and the owners cannot stop them from kneeling, turning their backs, or eating a hot dog during the playing of the anthem, as many of those at home actually do if they are not using the time to go to the bathroom, nor can they discipline them if they choose not to stand.

Which brings us to the National Anthem and the present spreading protests, which he who is residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would have been far better off keeping his mouth closed about if he had any sense about the situation at all.

I never served in the military.  I never had any desire to.  I have family and friends who have served.  I have all the respect in the world for them.  I have all the respect in the world for all who served.  I also have all the respect in the world for those who kneel or who do not stand with their hands over their hearts during the anthem.  Doing so has nothing to do with respecting the flag, the anthem or our military.  It has everything to do with upholding the rights our military supposedly fights for.

When we send our military to defend this country, if we are not sending them to protect this country and its people, and to protect our rights under the Constitution, then what are we sending them for?  If we are sending them simply to make profits for oil companies, then the troops should be brought home and the oil companies should be told to protect their pipelines and their profits themselves.  I am not a citizen of the United States of Exxon.  If we are sending troops to fight and die for us simply to massage the ego of whomever is in charge at a given moment, bring them home, and kick the ego out of office.

There is not, and should not be an argument that our military is there to protect our rights under the Constitution, and that the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance exist to recognize our rights.

All of our rights.

Each and every one of us and each and every one of our rights.

One of those rights is that granted under the Constitution to petition our government with our grievances, as explicitly provided for under the First Amendment.  There is a reason that freedom of speech and freedom of peaceful assembly is the first of the amendments.  It is that important.

When one is kneeling instead of standing for the anthem, one is expressing those very rights.  Considering that our military is fighting on our behalf for those very rights, I would ask who is right and who is wrong when Colin Kaepernick kneels on the sideline.  Mr. Kaepernick, who is quietly, and I would add respectfully expressing and asserting his rights or those who are denying his right to do so simply because they do not want to see it.  As long as the protest is done respectfully, there is nothing wrong and everything right about it.  Players quietly kneeling on the sideline shows no disrespect to anyone.  It simply makes a statement and upholds the right to protest as guaranteed under the First Amendment.

Besides, is there really a dispute that people of color, who were enslaved for nearly the first one hundred years of our history are still not treated equally?

Is there really a dispute that educational, housing, employment, etc. opportunities are much greater for whites than they are for people of color?

Is there really a dispute that whites are given the benefit of the doubt by law enforcement far more than minorities?

Is there really a dispute that when I am walking in a strange neighborhood at night and happen to pass by a police officer that I will simply nod to him and he will nod back, but if I were a minority, chances are I would be stopped and questioned over what I was doing there?

Really?

If you ask most veterans, while they have enormous reverence for the flag and for the anthem, nearly all of them will tell you that they fought or continue to fight for the rights granted to all of us under the Constitution.  That includes the right to protest peacefully.

So when Colin Kaepernick sees what is happening and decides to exercise his constitutional right to protest, is he really wrong?

And if we recognize the right to protest, who better, a star athlete who will be seen on national television or some guy who anonymously kneels in the stands of the game or at home?

So in the interests of peace and understanding, why don't we just stop playing the anthem before games.  Nobody will really miss it.  Nobody will complain when the players kneel in protest beforehand.

Even better, how about we address the problems those protesting point out instead of yelling about supposed disrespect of a piece of cloth that happens to have stars and stripes on it.