The worlds of social justice and sporting are colliding, highlighting an arena in desperate need of education.
San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick set off a national debate late last month after electing to sit and remain silent during the recitation of the National Anthem before a pre-season game. Kaepernick later said he can’t show pride in a country that systemically oppresses people of color, referencing recent issues of police brutality against black people.
Since his personal protest, other athletes have made similar gestures, including Kaepernick’s teammate Eric Reid and members of the Seattle Seahawks, Kanas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, L.A. Rams, New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins, as well as out women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe. Nearly an entire football team and its coaches at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, N.J., knelt during the anthem at a game this past weekend.
While many athletes have taken up the mantle, and are earning praise from racial-justice supporters, backlash against the protests may be even more fervent. In Alabama, a high-school football announcer allegedly suggested those who don’t stand for the National Anthem should be lined up and shot. A team of pre-teen football players in Texas received death threats after taking a knee during the anthem. After kneeling during the anthem, a high-school player in Ohio received threats of lynching.
Many opponents have also pledged to boycott teams whose players support the movement, or in some cases, the entire National Football League.
This is the same league whose players have been accused of domestic abuse, DUI, dogfighting and even murder. Where were the righteously indignant choruses promising boycotts then? Instead of taking a stand against people who have committed crimes and an environment that has sanctioned such behaviors, opponents of this movement are instead pouring their energy into decrying people who are taking a stand for equality.
The flag, the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance and other symbols of American patriotism may represent different things to people. To many, such emblems stand for freedom and liberty — and celebrating those icons amid the current tenor of the country may seem contradictory. But the brilliant thing about America is that our people are free to belt out the National Anthem, but they’re also entitled to stay silent during such observations; taking such a deliberative action for American equality may even hold more patriotism than reciting words hammered into us from childhood, without even knowing the origin of them.
Despite counter-protests, the demonstrations are fueling debate about racial equality among populations who need to have their eyes opened to their own privilege and to the realities of the restriction of American freedom. That’s a win in our book.