Protests are for justice, freedom
Dissent is an American value
Patriotism, free speech, race and football: The current dinner-table and water-cooler war over NFL players’ protests is fueled by a powerful and uniquely American blend of passions, and Americans are likely to stay divided about some things forever.
What’s beyond dispute is that the First Amendment gives Americans the right to express dissent. That some Americans are angry about and insulted by the protests is no surprise, but it’s unfortunate. Big- time sports — usually a reliable uniter of diverse factions — has become one more cultural battleground, with President Donald Trump stoking the controversy.
To recap: A number of NFL players, angry in their belief that police brutality against black Americans goes unpunished, have chosen to protest by not standing when the national anthem is played before games.
Many Americans were angry about that, insisting that no cause justifies disrespecting the flag and the anthem. Among those angry Americans: Trump, who roused a group of supporters at a speech Friday by declaring that any player who doesn’t stand should be fired, then doubled and tripled down with Twitter posts over the weekend.
Now the controversy is broader. Now it’s also about a president using the bully pulpit to bully Americans exercising their constitutional rights, and that inspired far more athletes on Sunday to risk their public adulation by kneeling during the anthem or standing with arms locked as a show of solidarity and defiance.
Monday night, Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys players refined the statement: Players knelt together before the anthem and then stood with arms locked while it was sung. Still, some fans booed.
Perhaps the fallout of all of this will be not only more investigation of how police interact with black citizens, but also a muchneeded national discussion that reminds all Americans of the freedoms that the flag and the anthem symbolize.
Those freedoms include the right to criticize and to protest. The American men and women who have sacrificed and died serving the country did so to protect those rights — not in defense of a physical symbol such as a flag, and certainly not so that citizens can be compelled to participate in a patriotic ceremony.
Protests are by their nature disruptive and offensive to someone. A protest that didn’t make anyone uncomfortable would be a failure.
Some scoff at the NFL protests because the players are wealthy and privileged. But what is wrong or even unusual about fortunate Americans using their position and resources to speak out for those they believe deserve to be heard?
The issue that drove former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to start the sideline protests — fatal shootings of unarmed black men by police officers, and the belief that law enforcement in America is systemically hostile to blacks — remains a pressing problem. The failure to address it more fully is unjust and dangerous.
The further issue that has emerged — the very right to protest — is equally important.
If history is any guide, the current controversy could inspire misguided and dangerous calls to criminalize speech and behavior that offend traditional patriots. Nothing could be more disrespectful to American values.