Taking Knees and Linking Arms

I write this as a fan of the Washington Redskins. Before last weekend's Sunday Night Football contest between the Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, Redskins' owner Dan Snyder linked arms with some of his African American players on the sideline during the singing of the National Anthem:

Dan Snyder links arms with players.

It was a protest against the way President Trump had, a couple of days before, called for NFL owners to fire players who take a knee during the pregame anthem ... the way San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and a few other players had begun doing in 2016 as a protest against police shootings of unarmed black men.

Colin Kaepernick takes a knee.

At other NFL games last weekend, there were similar arm-linkings, knee-takings, and even refusals to leave locker rooms for the anthem. This activity was meant primarily to upbraid Trump. But it was also meant to show solidarity against racial injustice.

In the wake of last weekend's protests, the Washington Post published two op-ed columns, one supportive of the protests and the other against.

The supportive one was by columnist Eugene Robinson, who is black, and was called "If Trump’s not a white supremacist, he does a good impression." The anti-protest column was by columnist Marc A. Thiessen, who is white, and was called "Disrespecting the flag is a disgraceful way to protest Trump."

Robinson's remarks centered on the notion that "We ... have a president who, if he’s not a white supremacist, does a convincing impression of one." He added, "Trump claimed in a Monday tweet that 'the issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race,' but that is a lie. Kaepernick’s method of protest had everything to do with race, as its intent was to focus attention on racial injustice."

Thiessen felt that showing due respect for the American flag is the dominant issue here: "What these players don’t seem to understand is that Americans gave their lives so that they could have the freedom to play a kids’ game for a living. When players disrespect the flag, they disrespect that sacrifice."

I agree with Robinson and disagree with Thiessen. Given that the underlying issue in the protests against Trump's rhetoric is one of racial justice, I'd say it outranks questions of the proper protocol for respecting the U.S. flag. We can't separate the racial justice issues of today from America's "original sin" of slavery. A lot of Old Glory-defending soldiers died in our Civil War, a struggle that was fought to restore the Union and emancipate Southern slaves. Here is one of the flags which the Union forces fought under:

Civil War flag

The Grand Old Flag represents a Constitution that insists on the equal treatment of all citizens, and on the right of all to exercise freedom of speech. And the anthem celebrates "the land of the free and the home of the brave." I'd say that considerations like these settle the question of whether recent pregame protests on NFL sidelines were indeed proper and just.