Why I Don't Like Kneeling During the National Anthem

Why I Don’t Like Kneeling During the National Anthem

As sports gradually returns from the lockdowns imposed by this pandemic, and since this is an election year, the subject of Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem is bound to come up again.  After all, Donald Trump, when running for President in 2016 called those who kneel SOBs and called for anyone who knelt during the National Anthem to get fired.  This naturally inflamed the left, as well as minorities because Colin Kaepernick used the National Anthem before NFL games to protest what he felt was widespread injustice in the United States.  Kaepernick brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the forefront of American consciousness.

Those who objected to Kaepernick kneeling during the Anthem were called racist.  The media on the left generally felt Kaepernick was in the right because the cause he stood for is right.  Those who objected to his kneeling during the National Anthem were accused of not caring about the plight of African-American men in our country.

I support Black Lives Matter in principle.  While I believe crime statistics show that more black people are murdered by other black people than are murdered by white people, I absolutely see racial profiling as a problem in the United States.  It is difficult for white people to appreciate this because, in general, they are not subjected to the same treatment by law enforcement and by others in general.

As a legally blind half minority, I have also experienced profiling, but not because of the color of my skin, but because my actions were misunderstood.  When I lived in California, I had long hair and a beard.  I looked Hispanic.  I remember one middle aged white couple who were lost coming up to me once and asking very slowly “You a, speak Eeeenglish?”  I answered “A hell of a lot better than you apparently.”  We laughed and I gave them directions.  But as a legally blind person I would sometimes get lost and at first glance, it appeared I was loitering about and up to no good.  I have had police wander up to me to ask what I was up to.  “Trying to figure out the street address,”  I would explain.  They would realize I had eyesight trouble and all was forgiven.

Once in Australia I was in a pub and after downing a couple of pints in rapid succession, I had to do what beer drinkers all over the world have to do, I had to go to the bathroom.  It was my first time in that pub and I did not know where the bathrooms were.  It was also fairly dark, and it was crowded.  So I walked very slowly, not knowing if the odd step was here or there.  A bouncer thought I had far too many drinks and came by to throw me out, and not gently.  I explained I was still sober, and that I was legally blind so was being extra careful because I hadn’t been to this pub before.  He did not believe me until I showed him my blind pass for public transport.

Thus, I understand profiling to some extent, but I also understand I have not experienced the kind of profiling African-American males experience.  I believe a combination of improving law enforcement, reducing racial stereotyping, and reducing the poverty and lack of quality education found in almost all minority dominated communities will go a long way to addressing the very real inequalities Black Lives Matter brings to our attention.  I also believe reducing drugs will solve the problem of more black Americans falling victim to other Black Americans, than those who fall victim to White Americans.  In short, we have a lot of work to do but I support Black Lives Matter and I genuinely respect Colin Kaepernick for sacrificing his own career for this cause.  Like me, Kaepernick is a half minority so he sees both sides to this complex issue.

So why then, do I not support Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem?  My reason is simple and has two parts.  Firstly, we Americans are a loud people who talk a great deal.  Living outside of the US as I do, I can say that people from other countries often comment on this.  I remember after September 11, one Australian commented on the 24/7 news coverage that lasted for days.  I responded that we Americans are not used to being attacked on our own soil and we’re grieving.  We deal with our grieving by talking to one another, and talking, and talking, and talking, and analyzing, and talking some more.  That’s what we do.

A number of my non-American friends commented on how loud we are.  Yes, I said, we are loud.  There are 350 million of us.  It is hard to be heard.  If you look at many large countries, you will find they are loud as well.  Another Australian friend of mine visited the United States and said when she watched our nightly news, I believe it was Dan Rather, all the news was about America.  “Don’t you care about the rest of the world?” she asked.  I said that we had separate world news, but also that we had 350 million people.  A lot happens in our country I explained, and it takes a while to go through all the important things that happen when you have 350 million people.

Still another friend commented that we get our hands into everything.  Why can’t you leave other countries alone?  You always have to have your say about other countries’ business.  I acknowledged that this was true, but I also said that the USA is the largest military and economic power on planet Earth.  “Other countries don’t let us stay out of it,” I explained.  “What we say and do actually matters.  Nobody actually cares all that much what New Zealand says or does because in the greater scheme of things, they are irrelevant when compared to America, Russia, China, or Europe.” 

We Americans will also yell at each other.  Australian friends of mine are amazed at how long our campaign season is and how nasty it gets.  Australian election campaigns last six weeks and yes, there are barbs thrown, but the level of nastiness does not remotely come close to ours.  We protest.  We slam one another.  We try to impeach Presidents.  We are sharply divided on many issues, and we let one another know where we stand.  We are loud.  We are proud.  And we generally demand that we are heard. 

But when the National Anthem plays, it is one of the only times where we Americans are called upon to shut the f**k up, and remember that despite our differences, we are one people.  At a football game I, a Dallas Cowboys fan, can stand next to the disgusting Pittsburgh Steelers fan who sits next to me, and shut the f**k up while the National Anthem is playing, and remember that we are both Americans, even if the Steelers fan is misguided and wrong in his allegiance.  In that moment we are one.

Yes, tragedies like September 11 can also bring us together, but who wants a tragedy like that to unite us.  The National Anthem is an ongoing institution in which for a couple of brief moments, depending on who sings the National Anthem, we loud, boisterous, often opinionated, and sometimes ignorant Americans shut the f**k up and pay respect to the one nation we all belong to.  If I happen to stand next to President Trump, I can and will clamor for his removal at the next election, but when the National Anthem plays, we both shut the f**k up and pay our respects to the nation to which we both are citizens.  The President even stops tweeting during the National Anthem.  There is plenty of time to yell at each other later.

Don’t take that away from us.  Don’t deprive this nation of one of the only ways we can draw together as one and remember that we are one nation.  We are comprised of many nationalities, and many ideologies, but we all belong to the United States of America.

Thus, although I agree with Kaepernick’s cause, I prefer he and others not protest during the playing of the National Anthem because that deprives us all of a moment we can unite.  Secondly, If Kaepernick were protesting something reprehensible to the left, such as, for example, if he protested in favor of white supremacy, would the media be so forgiving of him?  Probably not.  In our country, people have the right to protest as this current pandemic has shown.  I just don’t like a protest done during the playing of the National Anthem.  If we cannot pause, even for a couple of moments, and recall why the United States exists, and how we forged the way for many Republics which emerged after us, then we forget the reason why we exist as the United States in the first place.  Whether you are Right, Left, Black, White, or a little green entity from the Pleiades, or are the Gray’s from there I can’t remember, be quiet when the National Anthem plays, and reflect on why we have the freedom to yell and scream at one another.  Let us preserve the few precious opportunities we have to unite.