Yes, we disagreed with Mr. Kaepernick’s protest, although he surely has the right to protest. A handful of other football players joined in, a few singers, and others, but the number was still pretty small until this past week, after President Trump called out the protestors in impolite language. That statement was like the crack in a levee, because this past weekend nearly 200 NFL players “took a knee,” stayed in the locker room, or otherwise protested the Anthem. The Dallas Cowboys, united with their owner Jerry Jones, linked arms and “took a knee” prior to the National Anthem, although all of them did stand for the Anthem. The protests have inspired folks to come out in support of the kneelers, and also to oppose them, and that turmoil of conflicting view points has always been part of life in America. We do have the right to “take a knee,” but that also means that those who don’t like “taking a knee” can freely express that viewpoint as well.
Some of the kneelers are protesting something – racism, Donald Trump, who knows? Many football players seem to be doing it to show “unity” –although in our way of looking at it, there isn’t a better way to show unity with one’s fellow Americans than to stand proudly for the American Flag and the National Anthem.
Either President Trump managed to make things worse – or he brought them to a head. The Pittsburgh Steelers remained in the locker room for the Anthem this week – save for Alejandro Villanueva, a former US Army Ranger, who stood alone with his hand over his heart. Things being what they are, and he being the kind of man he is – he apologized for showing up his teammates. That is as good an illustration of the present state of affairs – that the one man who stood with his hand on his heart apologized; while the ones who took a knee have no regrets.
Well, maybe not. Steeler Captain Ben Rothlisberger announced that the team would stand for the Anthem next week. Most revolutions overreach, and perhaps this one has already. Two Democratic members of Congress “took a knee” before the House this week. They claim, as Progressives often do, that “taking a knee” shows the true patriotism. Would they say that stealing shows true respect for the law? Or having an affair shows true love for one’s wife? Love of country can be expressed in many ways, but denying our patriotic symbols is not one of them.
The person who refuses to stand also complains that he deserves our respect even as he shows disrespect for the rest of us. Please note that when Mr. Kaepernick started this whole thing, Barack Obama was our President. And what was the reaction of the conservatives? Did they condone the protest because they thought President Obama did not deserve respect? No, they disapproved of the protests, just as they do with Mr. Trump as President. If our level of patriotism depends on who the President is, then it is not really patriotism, is it? Patriotic Americans come in all stripes with many opinions. But those opinions should never taint our respect for our nation,whether our President is a Democrat or a Republican, a conservative or a progressive, black or white, We can strongly object to this President or the previous one, or the next one – and most of us do or will, but America is greater that any of its leaders. One of our favorite points of view is the one that says America is great not because of great men doing great things, but because of ordinary people doing ordinary things (and sometimes extraordinary things). The men who died at Saratoga or Chapultepec or Gettysburg or in the Argonne forest or at Kasserine or Anzio or Normandy or Pearl Harbor or Tarawa or Pusan or Khe Sanh or Kirkuk or thousands of other places were ordinary men, who gave all they had that America’s mission could be fulfilled and the rest of us could live in peace. Yes, the flag represents them, and their memory alone should forestall anyone from showing disrespect for the flag; but it represents everyone else as well – even those who protest or support “the other candidate.” That is why we should always show respect for the flag and our anthem and our country – because it represents an ideal that is bigger than all of us. Our nation is imperfect, as is everyone who lives in it, but it stands for something to which we all aspire, and something that we should honor in the highest regard. Sure, anyone has “the right” to take a knee in America; but given what America is and what it stands for, why would we do so?