Don’t idolize the anthem

My father and I are just two of the veterans that many people claim to be outraged on behalf of this week (“Fans burn up talk radio and social media in response to NFL player protests,” Sept. 25). I spent nearly a decade serving in the Navy, and he is a retired Marine whose 26-year career included two tours in Vietnam. When we spoke to one another last year about Colin Kaepernick’s decision to take a knee during the national anthem, we found that neither of us begrudged him his right to protest injustice.

Servicemen and women take an oath that we will “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The First Amendment of the Constitution protects the right of free speech and peaceable assembly. Our flag and our national anthem aren’t idols to be worshiped but are rather a representation of our values as a nation and our commitment to one another. Our nation’s values have never included complacency or silence in the face of injustice. And our commitment to each other as fellow countrymen falters when we suggest that blind assent is somehow more “patriotic” or more “American” than protest.

For those of you who are outraged by Colin Kaepernick’s decision to take a knee to protest racial injustice and by the rest of the NFL’s decision to kneel or lock arms to protest tyranny, I have to ask: Where was your outrage when it was revealed several years ago that the NFL’s “patriotism” was fueled by multimillion-dollar payments from the Defense Department? Where was your outrage when Boston University’s study about CTE illuminated the amount of permanent brain damage that players risk incurring every time they step onto the field? And finally, where was your outrage about mixing sports and politics when Tim Tebow trotted his strongly held convictions out onto the AstroTurf and knelt each week?