NFL fans across the country stood at attention over the weekend as the national anthem played and the United States flag came on the field, while some players and owners locked arms and others put their hands over their hearts.
But the most American thing at those stadiums were the kneeling players on the sidelines and the teams that declined to come out of the locker rooms.
They are respecting their rights, represented by the flag, by using those rights.
Free expression does not mean only agreeable or popular expression; those who disagree with the protests are using the same First Amendment rights in their criticism.
President Trump pumped up what should be a non-controversy on Friday at a political rally in Alabama when he said:
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!”
The president’s claims of disrespect are absurd, and his wish to stamp out free speech he dislikes is alarming. As a nation we should be focusing on the true and long-standing disrespect the players are protesting instead of keeping score of athletes’ posture or location during the national anthem.
The entire incident was prompted by former San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem in protest of racism and the death and abuse of black people at the hands of police.
Trump followed his initial statement with a series of tweets continuing the attack, expanded to include the NBA-champion Golden State Warriors and later calling for a boycott against the National Football League.
Whether his reason was to distract from the struggles of yet another effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act or to reassure his base he is still the man they voted for, the president continues his unsettling tactic of attacking Americans of color. The NFL is made up of about 70 percent black athletes; the NBA stands at about 74 percent.
Although the president coyly pretends otherwise, there is a dark current that runs through his attempts to divide this nation.
On Monday, he praised — via tweet — NASCAR, its supporters and fans, a predominantly white audience. To the sport’s credit, one of its most popular figures, Dale Earnhardt Jr., responded with a quote from JFK: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
If the president is really so concerned about the flag being respected, he should brush up on the National Flag Code. A quick look at section 176 of the United States Code, title 36, chapter 10 shows that the flag is in a constant state of disrespect.
Commonplace violations include the flag being displayed horizontally (i.e. the displays of the waving giant American flag on the football field at halftime); used as “apparel, bedding, or drapery”; embroidered on cushions or handkerchiefs, printed on paper napkins or anything meant to be disposable, used as a costume or as part of an athletic uniform, or used for advertising purposes.
The code goes on to say that the flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. It is not a piece of cloth that we are there to blindly salute to prove our patriotism.
If the flag is alive, then the soul that each one of us holds is the soul of America. It embodies our principles. It stands for our ideals.
Just like the athletes who are kneeling for them.
