A firestorm erupted last weekend when many NFL athletes showed their support for kneeling in protest during the National Anthem by joining in. Today, members of the Item staff offer five different perspectives on the issue.
This isn’t about disrespect
I am a proud daughter of a World War II Disabled American Veteran, granddaughter of a World War I veteran, and a descendant of slaves brought to this country in cargo holds of ships.
And I’m with Colin Kaepernick.
Addressing this country’s institutional racism and police brutality makes people uncomfortable, so some have decided that reminders of inequality are not “appropriate” while we’re being entertained.
So when is it appropriate? The twelfth of never?
I am going to use a parable in hopes those who disagree will walk a few steps in a different pair of shoes.
You live in a town with only one restaurant. Now in this fictional town, there are no grocery stores and everyone eats all their meals there. There are no other choices.
And some days, when you’re being served, the waiter spits in your food. It’s not every day, or every waiter. But for your entire life, many times, someone will serve you food that has been spat in. The majority get good service, and they are treated well. Your acquaintances, friends, and colleagues notice you occasionally are served nasty food. Some pretend not to see, others secretly think you and your family deserve it. Still others refuse to believe you when you tell them.
You’ve finally had enough! You decide to silently, but publicly, get up and scrape the nasty food into the garbage. Now your acquaintances are angry. You’re publicly embarrassing them by acknowledging the inequity. They don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want you to talk about it, and none will speak out on your behalf. Instead, they chastise you for making a public spectacle in this wonderful restaurant you’ve been “allowed” to eat in. They want to eat a meal in peace, and go home. You can complain about the saliva issue on your own time, in private. Their comfort is more important than your right to clean, healthy food.
I’m taking a knee, whenever and wherever I see fit. Because I don’t think anyone with a soul should stand and do nothing while someone is spitting in someone else’s food.
Cheryl Charles is Night Editor at The Item. She can be reached at [email protected].
Why I stand for the flag
Sometimes, before I fall asleep, I lie in bed and think of my neighbors. They have a son in the Navy and a second who is a combat veteran who could be ordered to redeploy. As I doze off, I contemplate the pride my neighbors feel for their sons and the worries and fears that keep them awake.
There are tens of thousands of Americans who have loved ones serving in the military. I think about them, sometimes only for a second or two, when I stand and put my hand over my heart and turn to face the flag during a performance of the national anthem.
Actually, it’s called “The Star-Spangled Banner” and it’s a poem, not a song. Like most American traditions, standing during the anthem is a semi-casual, optional exercise people can participate in or ignore without drawing more than a judgmental glance.
The anthem is one of those rare opportunities for Americans to participate in the shared experience of saluting the flag. The people who have decided to kneel or sit or hide in locker rooms during the playing of the national anthem have made a calculated and self-centered decision to use nationally-televised events as a showcase for personal viewpoints.
Their decision to make themselves the focus of attention is no surprise in a modern America where mobile technology and Facebook provide everyone with an electronic soapbox for airing grievances.
Like everyone else in the country, I have my own political perspective, but I set aside my gripe list for the two minutes it takes to play the national anthem. The anthem protesters and their supporters say their demonstrations are not aimed at veterans and, in fact, include veterans.
I am sure these declarations are grounded in sincerity, but I will always stand for the national anthem because I would feel profound shame if I knew my neighbors or even one veteran or one family member of a veteran who died for our country felt disrespected or hurt by my unwillingness to salute their service and sacrifice.
Thor Jourgensen is News Editor at The Item. He can be reached at [email protected].
Do not hide behind patriotism
All week we’ve been talking about the whole issue of rights. I wonder why “taking the knee” became such a huge ordeal. I honestly think this whole debate has been derailed by some who have categorized it as a disrespectful gesture towards the armed forces, the flag, the national anthem, the veterans, the soldiers, and the list goes on. It leaves me to wonder what is it about calling out unfairness and inequality that makes people so angry.
Is it that they feel they will end up with less because others will also be factored in the equation? Or is it maybe the fact that some people deep inside feel that some just shouldn’t have the same privileges in the first place.
Whatever the reason is, I think this whole debate is just a justification or minimization of a bigger issue, in Kaepernick’s words: systemic racism.
The concept of systemic racism is very hard to rationalize, particularly because in the U.S. Constitution everyone is supposed to be equal. But just because its equal, doesn’t mean there’s real equity to it.
Facts show that our current system is unfair to minorities. We wouldn’t need the kneeling if all types of unfairness and unwarranted killings weren’t happening on the daily basis.
So, I tell you, kneel, stand, or do whatever you want, but please FOCUS on the real issue of discrimination and racism minorities are dealing with. DO NOT hide behind the “patriotism” discourse, this ordeal has nothing to do with disrespecting the military or the flag.
Let’s not get it twisted and try to minimize the reality of things because the protest is done, according to some “at the wrong place and time.”
So where are we supposed to do this? In our backyards? Come on people. Let’s lift the fog curtain and admit there’s a real issue here, and that it’s affecting minorities at a disproportionate rate.
And if you don’t agree with that, then I suggest you go and check your data.
Carolina Trujillo is Community Relations Director of Essex Media Group. She can be reached at [email protected].
Anthem has no place in this arena
The playing of the National Anthem prior to sporting events began in earnest in 1918, and — of course — the Red Sox played a part.
It was the 1918 World Series, and the nation was at its most tense due to the hardships of World War I. In an effort muster up some enthusiasm, the Chicago Cubs — Boston’s opponent in that year’s World Series — had a marching band play the anthem before seventh-inning stretch.
When the teams got back to Boston, the Red Sox upped the ante, and played the anthem prior to the game while introducing veterans who had been given free tickets.
Ever since, sporting events of every stripe have been played against the backdrop of a song that basically gloats about winning and waves losing in the faces of the vanquished. It talks of bombs and rockets. It is the very epitome of the American psyche, which has no room for losers and weakness and puts power and strength on a pedestal.
If it has anything to do with veterans, it is only in the connection that we, as Americans, have made on our own. Its use was intended to drum up support for a World Series that nobody really cared about because we were so wrapped up in the war.
Today, the anthem is a cause celebre as athletes have begun using it as a vehicle to illustrate their feelings of social injustice. Like much of what’s going on in the United States, the anthem has become a wedge issue.
This is truly unfortunate. The song earmarked as your national symbol should belong to everyone, and as such, everyone should be allowed to reflect on it in whatever way they choose. They should also be allowed not to reflect on it if that’s their choice.
It’s time to stop this. There is no reason to pretend anymore that sports today have anything to do with patriotism and national honor. Not when the NFL can’t even be trusted with the safety of its players.
If you want to use the time to reflect, then have a moment or two of silence. But let’s stop attaching some mythical feeling of patriotism to games that merely glorify the greed and self aggrandizement of those who run them and play them.
Steve Krause is Sports Editor of The Item. He can be reached at [email protected].
We’re missing the point
It started with one man, alone, sitting on a bench. The next week, he got out of that seat and took a knee. By refusing to stand for the national anthem, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a conversation about police brutality.
Are you ready to listen?
Judging by the boos heard at Gillette Stadium and other venues across the league, lots of people aren’t. And that’s a shame.
Protests are meant to make you uncomfortable. Kaepernick and other players kneeled during the national anthem to shake you from your routine so you’d hear what they were saying.
Instead, critics moved the goalposts. Rather than grapple with a difficult issue like the ongoing treatment of people of color by police, they talked about decorum, respect, and anything else that lets them ignore hard questions.
Changing the subject isn’t engagement. Shutting down dissent doesn’t erase the problems these players are trying to highlight.
Not one player who took a knee last Sunday was disparaging the men and women of the armed forces. They weren’t slagging veterans. They were trying to start a conversation by snapping Americans out of the comfort of their typical Sunday.
You don’t have to agree with Kaepernick. You don’t have to abandon your feelings about the troops, America, or anything else that you relate to the national anthem and flag. Feel free to argue about the role of police, the treatment of people of color by authority figures, and how Americans from different backgrounds have different experiences in this country.
All you have to do is listen and respond to what’s being said.
We can’t grow as a nation if we don’t listen to each other. We have to stop our tendency to stifle conversations that make us uncomfortable.
It’s that discomfort that spurs action. For more than a year, Kaepernick has tried to start a discussion about the unequal and sometimes brutal experience people of color face.
Are you going to listen and take part in that uncomfortable conversation? Or are you going to stay on the couch and curse his name for making you think?
Roberto Scalese is the Digital Content Director at The Item. You can reach him at [email protected].
