October 18 // October 4, 2017
Men of great character. You gotta love it.
Help us understand this.
Believe it or not, this story seems to be lingering, and perhaps legitimately so, although reasonable people can disagree about the choices being made. Here we go:
Some football players have chosen the playing of the National Anthem at the start of NFL games every Sunday - and correspondingly, the American flag flying at the stadium - to serve as the backdrop for their protests. Their issue? The behavior of some police officers around the country and the reported acts of racism in the ranks. The players kneel during the anthem to protest the officers’ treatment of some of the black men they arrest, incarcerate, injure or – tragically - kill in the line of duty. (And yes, we believe any untimely death is a tragedy.) Please note that whether or not you agree or disagree with the assessment of the officers regarding their behavior is irrelevant to this discussion. The salient point here is that the men participating in the protest believe in the message and in their mission to call out this perversion of justice.
[True to form - all of us believe it our duty to go on the record on social media regarding our own thoughts and feedback on the topic du jour. And - as usual - we learned we hate more people than we thought we did.]
We’re not suggesting that if an NFL player – or any citizen for that matter – has concerns about the behavior of law enforcement officers toward members of any community (minority or otherwise), they should remain silent. They have every right to speak their minds. But our question is this: Why Sunday? Why before an NFL game? Why during the anthem?
We know. Because the flag and the anthem represent our union. By choosing that moment, the players highlight their experiences – or the experiences of others – that show some pretty significant rifts within our (im)perfect union.
We know. The answer should be obvious. Because of the crowd; the TV coverage; the megaphone they get as a result of the broadcast. Where else can they have the captive audience of NFL fans in such large numbers except on game day to witness their protest? This is an enormous issue for our nation. They need to get the message out to as many people as possible.
Yup – got it. But is this particular moment in time furthering their mission or harming it? As we see it, this wrongly connects two separate issues: racist behavior and respect for the flag and the anthem. Was it worth the backlash; worth the thousands of people who are now outraged at the NFL and what they see as “disrespect” for the flag as a result of the protest? Maybe. Maybe not. Change – even change for the better – is often painful. Whether or not you agree with the actions, so far the biggest result of the kneeling and the reaction to it: more divisiveness. More people arguing about the flag, the anthem, the troops (the troops?!?); and very, very few of them focusing on the issue at hand: racism. You could argue that an important and critical cause has been lost to the loud and endless shrieking over the flag and the anthem and the kneeling.
People also seem startled or otherwise outraged that the President, the Vice President and others on the White House staff have reacted negatively to the protests. To this we say: Are you insane? Irrespective of what President Trump said in response to the protests*, what did you expect? That he would agree that expressing anything other than a traditional response to the National Anthem would be okay?
* We’d like to go on the record here and say that many of the tweets and “conversation” originating from The Real Donald Trump twitter account (notice, not from the POTUS twitter account) are irresponsible, combative, inflammatory, ill-informed, poorly conceived, badly written, divisive and quite possibly dangerous. We’d also like to acknowledge that many people who voted for President Trump are no doubt delighted to read each and every one of them. And? That and 50 cents won’t buy us a cup of coffee. That ain’t going to change, folks. We suggest the media stop covering these outbursts with such fervor.
Back to the kneeling. We read a number of stories about how the NFL players' protest, and Colin Kaepernick’s inauguration of it in 2016, is reminiscent of Civil Rights heroine Rosa Parks and her protest on that Alabama bus. Kaepernick’s choice to kneel during the anthem is being compared to her refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger, and move to the back of the bus.
That’s a fascinating and almost romantic notion but unfortunately, it makes no sense. Rosa Parks didn’t kneel for the National Anthem at a football game and say it was because of dissatisfaction with her seat on a bus. [That sounds ridiculous but it’s no more ridiculous than NFL players protesting police brutality and racism at the game. In fact, it’s probably the most unlikely place on the planet to try to call out racism. If there was ever a level playing field when it comes to teamwork and trust, it’s the football field.] Mrs. Parks didn’t give up her seat in front of network cameras and a hundred thousand people, with the National Anthem playing in the background. She did it on her own, away from the cameras, and made her objections known in the moment.
If Kaepernick and the NFL want to make their protests known, every one of them should continue to take a knee – by all means, take a knee – with one small change. Do it on the sidewalks or streets outside the police precincts in their neighborhoods – the very places where this racist and unconscionable behavior begins - and should end. Just like they do now, they can protest racism once a week; for just a few minutes, to draw attention to the problem they want to combat: police misconduct, and violence rooted in racism toward the black community. That’s it. Once a week, and stay on that knee for about two minutes – or as long as it takes to play the National Anthem, without playing it, of course. It’s irrelevant.
It’s easy to implement if they want to try. Every team has 53 players on the roster and if they’re all in solidarity about these protests – which they seem to be! - that means that on a weekly basis, one of them will have to show up in front of the local precinct, for about two minutes. That’s it. And hey – in the off season, they can show up every single day if they want to! Why not?
But but but – no cameras! No coverage! No thousands of fans in person and watching at home! True. But consider this: Before everyone tweeted their every thought and put up a facebook post about their every movement, Rosa Parks and her in-the-moment protest became a cultural touchstone, and ultimately achieved justice on the bus for an entire race of people more than 50 years ago.
Even without the enormous megaphone, the NFL players will prevail as well. And not one person would be able to argue the point or dismiss it as a willful act that disgraces the flag or the anthem. The protest will have nothing to do with the anthem or the flag. Nothing. Simply one man resolutely protesting the racism he wants to bring to an end precisely where it originates – with the police.
***
Oh, and PS – this isn’t typical of TWAN but we had to: The players and NFL team owners held this very recently. That’s just wonderful news. If you don’t feel like reading it, here’s our own summary of the meeting:
We're about to begin to start talking about how to initiate a preliminary look at how to commence an approach that will instigate and activate some initial conversation about these “social justice” issues.
Dear God help us please. The summary of this meeting sounded like a whole lot of nothing to us. Below is an excerpt from the linked article. Have you ever read anything less substantive? Or less focused on the incident (kneeling to protest police brutality) that prompted the meeting in the first place? Once again, dear God. Bold throughout courtesy of TWAN:
"We spent today talking about issues that the players are trying to bring attention to," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "That was the entire focus." (If we understand the protest, that means they talked about police violence against minorities.)
Asked if the players committed to standing during the anthem, Goodell responded: "We did not ask for that."
Trump criticized the NFL again Wednesday on Twitter, writing that "The NFL has decided that it will not force players to stand for the playing of our National Anthem. Total disrespect for our great country!" (But this topic wasn’t discussed, so we're not sure why it was even included in this particular story.)
A group of 11 owners and more than a dozen players met for more than two hours at the league's headquarters. Among the topics discussed was enhancing the players' platforms for speaking out on social issues. (Enhancing their platforms? What does that mean? We thought the entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to?)
"We heard what they had to say and they heard us," Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said. "It's open talks and that's a good thing." (What did the owners have to say? What the heck are their issues? What 'open talks?' About what? We thought the entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to?)
The NFL's policy on the national anthem did not come up. (We know. The entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to.) That policy states that the players "should" stand for the anthem, and some have suggested the league would seek to change that to "must" stand. Goodell said in a memo to the teams last week that the NFL prefers for players to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"Very little of the meeting was about the actual anthem," Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "We were really more talking about solutions and how we get the results that we want to get." (First off - we just read that the anthem didn't come up. So none of the meeting should have be about the actual anthem. the entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to. And what does he mean - talking about solutions? Solutions to what? What results do they want to get? Less police brutality, we imagine, but what solutions did they discuss to get that?)
Ross called the session "constructive," and Colts defensive back Darius Butler termed it "positive." (That's awesome!) (Why?) (How?)
Goodell spoke briefly before heading to further league meetings. He emphasized the commitment on the part of the players and the NFL "to work together on issues of social justice." (Fine. Lovely. But just so you know: at no point did we think you'd work against each other, for God's sake.)
"Our players are men of great character," he added, "and they have a deep understanding and tremendous knowledge of the issues going on in all our communities. This is something our owners said we want to support you in." That’s simply spectacular. The owners want to support the players who have a “deep understanding and tremendous knowledge” - we’re not sure how those two things are different - of the issues going on in all our communities. The owners support that! Fine. Lovely.
What? They support what? We're not going to list all the activities the NFL has somehow overlooked when it comes to supporting the men of great character who play the game.
Men of great character. You gotta love it.
Help us understand this.
Believe it or not, this story seems to be lingering, and perhaps legitimately so, although reasonable people can disagree about the choices being made. Here we go:
Some football players have chosen the playing of the National Anthem at the start of NFL games every Sunday - and correspondingly, the American flag flying at the stadium - to serve as the backdrop for their protests. Their issue? The behavior of some police officers around the country and the reported acts of racism in the ranks. The players kneel during the anthem to protest the officers’ treatment of some of the black men they arrest, incarcerate, injure or – tragically - kill in the line of duty. (And yes, we believe any untimely death is a tragedy.) Please note that whether or not you agree or disagree with the assessment of the officers regarding their behavior is irrelevant to this discussion. The salient point here is that the men participating in the protest believe in the message and in their mission to call out this perversion of justice.
[True to form - all of us believe it our duty to go on the record on social media regarding our own thoughts and feedback on the topic du jour. And - as usual - we learned we hate more people than we thought we did.]
We’re not suggesting that if an NFL player – or any citizen for that matter – has concerns about the behavior of law enforcement officers toward members of any community (minority or otherwise), they should remain silent. They have every right to speak their minds. But our question is this: Why Sunday? Why before an NFL game? Why during the anthem?
We know. Because the flag and the anthem represent our union. By choosing that moment, the players highlight their experiences – or the experiences of others – that show some pretty significant rifts within our (im)perfect union.
We know. The answer should be obvious. Because of the crowd; the TV coverage; the megaphone they get as a result of the broadcast. Where else can they have the captive audience of NFL fans in such large numbers except on game day to witness their protest? This is an enormous issue for our nation. They need to get the message out to as many people as possible.
Yup – got it. But is this particular moment in time furthering their mission or harming it? As we see it, this wrongly connects two separate issues: racist behavior and respect for the flag and the anthem. Was it worth the backlash; worth the thousands of people who are now outraged at the NFL and what they see as “disrespect” for the flag as a result of the protest? Maybe. Maybe not. Change – even change for the better – is often painful. Whether or not you agree with the actions, so far the biggest result of the kneeling and the reaction to it: more divisiveness. More people arguing about the flag, the anthem, the troops (the troops?!?); and very, very few of them focusing on the issue at hand: racism. You could argue that an important and critical cause has been lost to the loud and endless shrieking over the flag and the anthem and the kneeling.
People also seem startled or otherwise outraged that the President, the Vice President and others on the White House staff have reacted negatively to the protests. To this we say: Are you insane? Irrespective of what President Trump said in response to the protests*, what did you expect? That he would agree that expressing anything other than a traditional response to the National Anthem would be okay?
* We’d like to go on the record here and say that many of the tweets and “conversation” originating from The Real Donald Trump twitter account (notice, not from the POTUS twitter account) are irresponsible, combative, inflammatory, ill-informed, poorly conceived, badly written, divisive and quite possibly dangerous. We’d also like to acknowledge that many people who voted for President Trump are no doubt delighted to read each and every one of them. And? That and 50 cents won’t buy us a cup of coffee. That ain’t going to change, folks. We suggest the media stop covering these outbursts with such fervor.
Back to the kneeling. We read a number of stories about how the NFL players' protest, and Colin Kaepernick’s inauguration of it in 2016, is reminiscent of Civil Rights heroine Rosa Parks and her protest on that Alabama bus. Kaepernick’s choice to kneel during the anthem is being compared to her refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger, and move to the back of the bus.
That’s a fascinating and almost romantic notion but unfortunately, it makes no sense. Rosa Parks didn’t kneel for the National Anthem at a football game and say it was because of dissatisfaction with her seat on a bus. [That sounds ridiculous but it’s no more ridiculous than NFL players protesting police brutality and racism at the game. In fact, it’s probably the most unlikely place on the planet to try to call out racism. If there was ever a level playing field when it comes to teamwork and trust, it’s the football field.] Mrs. Parks didn’t give up her seat in front of network cameras and a hundred thousand people, with the National Anthem playing in the background. She did it on her own, away from the cameras, and made her objections known in the moment.
If Kaepernick and the NFL want to make their protests known, every one of them should continue to take a knee – by all means, take a knee – with one small change. Do it on the sidewalks or streets outside the police precincts in their neighborhoods – the very places where this racist and unconscionable behavior begins - and should end. Just like they do now, they can protest racism once a week; for just a few minutes, to draw attention to the problem they want to combat: police misconduct, and violence rooted in racism toward the black community. That’s it. Once a week, and stay on that knee for about two minutes – or as long as it takes to play the National Anthem, without playing it, of course. It’s irrelevant.
It’s easy to implement if they want to try. Every team has 53 players on the roster and if they’re all in solidarity about these protests – which they seem to be! - that means that on a weekly basis, one of them will have to show up in front of the local precinct, for about two minutes. That’s it. And hey – in the off season, they can show up every single day if they want to! Why not?
But but but – no cameras! No coverage! No thousands of fans in person and watching at home! True. But consider this: Before everyone tweeted their every thought and put up a facebook post about their every movement, Rosa Parks and her in-the-moment protest became a cultural touchstone, and ultimately achieved justice on the bus for an entire race of people more than 50 years ago.
Even without the enormous megaphone, the NFL players will prevail as well. And not one person would be able to argue the point or dismiss it as a willful act that disgraces the flag or the anthem. The protest will have nothing to do with the anthem or the flag. Nothing. Simply one man resolutely protesting the racism he wants to bring to an end precisely where it originates – with the police.
***
Oh, and PS – this isn’t typical of TWAN but we had to: The players and NFL team owners held this very recently. That’s just wonderful news. If you don’t feel like reading it, here’s our own summary of the meeting:
We're about to begin to start talking about how to initiate a preliminary look at how to commence an approach that will instigate and activate some initial conversation about these “social justice” issues.
Dear God help us please. The summary of this meeting sounded like a whole lot of nothing to us. Below is an excerpt from the linked article. Have you ever read anything less substantive? Or less focused on the incident (kneeling to protest police brutality) that prompted the meeting in the first place? Once again, dear God. Bold throughout courtesy of TWAN:
"We spent today talking about issues that the players are trying to bring attention to," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "That was the entire focus." (If we understand the protest, that means they talked about police violence against minorities.)
Asked if the players committed to standing during the anthem, Goodell responded: "We did not ask for that."
Trump criticized the NFL again Wednesday on Twitter, writing that "The NFL has decided that it will not force players to stand for the playing of our National Anthem. Total disrespect for our great country!" (But this topic wasn’t discussed, so we're not sure why it was even included in this particular story.)
A group of 11 owners and more than a dozen players met for more than two hours at the league's headquarters. Among the topics discussed was enhancing the players' platforms for speaking out on social issues. (Enhancing their platforms? What does that mean? We thought the entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to?)
"We heard what they had to say and they heard us," Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said. "It's open talks and that's a good thing." (What did the owners have to say? What the heck are their issues? What 'open talks?' About what? We thought the entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to?)
The NFL's policy on the national anthem did not come up. (We know. The entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to.) That policy states that the players "should" stand for the anthem, and some have suggested the league would seek to change that to "must" stand. Goodell said in a memo to the teams last week that the NFL prefers for players to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"Very little of the meeting was about the actual anthem," Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "We were really more talking about solutions and how we get the results that we want to get." (First off - we just read that the anthem didn't come up. So none of the meeting should have be about the actual anthem. the entire focus was on the issues players are trying to bring attention to. And what does he mean - talking about solutions? Solutions to what? What results do they want to get? Less police brutality, we imagine, but what solutions did they discuss to get that?)
Ross called the session "constructive," and Colts defensive back Darius Butler termed it "positive." (That's awesome!) (Why?) (How?)
Goodell spoke briefly before heading to further league meetings. He emphasized the commitment on the part of the players and the NFL "to work together on issues of social justice." (Fine. Lovely. But just so you know: at no point did we think you'd work against each other, for God's sake.)
"Our players are men of great character," he added, "and they have a deep understanding and tremendous knowledge of the issues going on in all our communities. This is something our owners said we want to support you in." That’s simply spectacular. The owners want to support the players who have a “deep understanding and tremendous knowledge” - we’re not sure how those two things are different - of the issues going on in all our communities. The owners support that! Fine. Lovely.
What? They support what? We're not going to list all the activities the NFL has somehow overlooked when it comes to supporting the men of great character who play the game.