So far as we know, no NFL players spat on or burned the flag this weekend. When the national anthem was performed before games, they did not turn their backs or make rude gestures. Some linked arms in a show of unity; others knelt, an act that connotes respect.
Kneeling suggests a commitment to fostering the freedom and justice that is America's promise. It is now up to all those who took part to ensure this protest achieves its highest purpose. The protests have nothing to do with the Star Spangled Banner or the flag. Rather, they began last year when quarterback Colin Kaepernick chose to sit and later to kneel during the anthem as a means to draw attention to police brutality against blacks. But President Trump has, as Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) says, created a construct in which he can stand on the side of flag and country and put all the "elitists"--including players "making millions of dollars in the NFL"--on the other.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted an elegant rebuke to President Trump Sunday. "Taking a knee is not without precedent President," he wrote over a photo of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others kneeling. "Those who dared to protest have helped bring positive change." But Holder's tweet was also a challenge to the NFL. President Trump wanted the optics of players kneeling to score political points. Will the players and coaches make it mean something more?
Editorial on 09/26/2017