Flag Protesting In Athletics

Whenever team sports resume in the United States, you can guarantee athletes across all sports leagues will be “taking a knee” during the National Anthem to bring the issue of police brutality to light in the wake of George Floyd’s senseless death.

I will applaud those actions. The most simple, peaceful gestures can prove to be provocative yet powerful agents of change. It’s the great beauty of free speech.

The gesture originally came from San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick during the 2016 NFL season. It cost him his career, and became the center of controversy between NFL athletes and conservative flag-wavers, led by our nationalist-in-chief, who denounce any perceived disrespect towards the flag.

And the controversy has erupted again.

New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees was asked how he thinks the NFL should respond to the Floyd killing and his responsibility as a leader to his teammates. Drew’s answer in full:

“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees said. “Let me just tell you what I see or what I feel when the National Anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States: I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during World War II, one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps, both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about. And in many cases, it brings me to tears thinking about all that has been sacrificed, not just by those in the military, but for that matter, those throughout the civil rights movements of the ’60s. And all that has endured by so many people up until this point.

“And is everything right with our country right now? No. It’s not. We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together. We can all do better. And we are all part of the solution.”

For Drew Brees, standing for the flag isn’t just about honoring the military service of people like his grandfathers but also honoring the civil rights movement. Per Brees, taking a knee disrespects the flag and what it represents. It disrespects those who risked their lives for freedom, which includes civil rights activists as well as the military.

The ensuing rebuke was harsh, resulting in multiple apologies from Brees. The criticism of NBA star LeBron James was indicative of the response:

WOW MAN!! 🤦🏾‍♂️. Is it still surprising at this point. Sure isn’t! You literally still don’t understand why Kap was kneeling on one knee?? Has absolute nothing to do with the disrespect of 🇺🇸 and our soldiers(men and women) who keep our land free. My father-in-law was one of those https://t.co/pvUWPmh4s8

— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 3, 2020

(Funny how James supports the right of people in sports to speak out, regardless of the potential harm to their finances, unless it impacts him financially.)

So was Kaepernick’s kneeling disrespectful of the flag? Sports media personalities this week have rushed in to say “it’s not about disrespecting the flag.” Even former Green Beret Nate Boyer, the man who influenced Kaepernick to kneel instead of sitting on a bench during the Anthem, said it’s not about disrespecting the flag.

Compare that to what Colin himself actually said about not standing for the anthem:

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media after Friday’s game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

I’m not sure how much more clear he can be there. The flag represents a country that oppresses people of color, and he refuses to look away from the injustice. Another way to put it: the flag represents a country that disrespects people of color. Whether by sitting or kneeling, he will not show pride for the flag.

HELL YES he was disrepecting the flag. To say otherwise takes away from how powerful and courageous his act was. To say otherwise does a disservice to the issue that Kaepernick was trying to bring attention to, police brutality. To say otherwise is attempting to tame his message.

This country does not need the message about police brutality tamed any longer.

In this debate, however, there should also be room for the original point-of-view espoused by Drew Brees, which is different than Donald Trump’s authoritarian quasi-censorship. Drew said he would never agree with “disrespecting the flag.” He never said he would physically stop players from kneeling. He never said he would use his influence to blackball players who kneel. Someone who is heartfelt should not be made into a pariah. Engage him, explain his grandfathers fought for the right of people to be able to criticize this country’s shortcomings, and those criticisms can be expressed via “taking a knee.” And don’t blackball him if he feels by STANDING, he’s expressing the same commitment to social justice.

Tags: Black Lives Matter, Colin Kaepernick, Donald Trump, Drew Brees, George Floyd, LeBron James, police brutality