On September 13 I posted this on FB:
"And then it hit me: NFL players may face a 4-game suspension for possibly knowing about a football being deflated, but it's fine if they publicly disrepect the United States and her National Anthem. Got it."
The part of my inital post that seems to have aroused ire from many friends was that when NFL players "...publicly disrepect the United States and her National Anthem" they suffer no consequences. One friend said "I don't think it is disrespectful at all to not stand. I think it is the greatest thing about our country...so different from the rest of the world. We can express ourselves by questioning authority and even the symbols of the country we live in. It's what makes us great." Two other friends agreed. My son implied I was suggesting "an employer should punish someone for doing something that is still within their constitutional rights." One other friend agreed with me due, I expect, in large part to his 30 years of service in the Navy.
My assertion that the sitting players are disrespecting the US and her National Anthem rests on this belief: The National Anthem represents the essence, the spirit, the totality of all that is America. (You can stop here if you don't agree with that belief). It does not just represent the racism in our country.
Standing up is a broad, well-accepted sign of respect in our culture (gentlemen will commonly stand when a respected or honored member of society enters a room; the assembled in a courtroom will stand when a judge enters; the congregation at a wedding stands when the bride processes). This is why people who respect the essence of America expressed in her National Anthem stand when it is performed. Ergo, sitting -- the opposite of standing -- conveys the opposite message, ie. disrespect, be it for the essence of America or a judge in a courtroom. The players who sit or take another position besides standing are therefore disrespecting the essence of our country. They are not joining in a pointed protest against racism in the public square. They are disrespecting the essence and spirit of the very political system that guarantees the right to free expression. In denouncing the entire system that guarantees free expression they are not, in fact, strengthening it. They are damaging that same system.
Not every display of free expression strengthens our polity. A woman in the public square organizing an overthow of the government because racism/bigotry/sexism or another cancer infects parts of the polity would not be strengthening our country by her free expression, but rather she is promoting its destruction. Similarly, the NFL player disrespecting the essence of America by sitting during the National Anthem attacks her broadside, damning ALL that she represents INCLUDING freedom of expression.
Second Point (wherein my son says I imply an employer should punish someone for doing something within their constitutional rights): In fact, yes, that is what I'm implying. Many, many constitutional rights are limited by the contract between employer and worker. You cannot exercise your freedom of movement or assembly or expression when you have agreed to work at a job from 9-5; you can't leave at 1:30 if you're tired; you can't assemble with friends in the breakroom whenever you want; you can't curse at clients. But you have willingly suspended your rights in exchange for the rewards of the work. By the same token, NFL owners could make standing at attention during the National Anthem a job requirement in the same way that players can't drag down an opponent via the facemask. That is just another job requirement owners -- through the NFL -- place on their employees.
Final thought: These protesting players are grandstanding, risking nothing of value to themselves and gaining maximum spotlight time. Why not use their celebrity status off-field, off-camera, to damn the cancers of our body politic direclty via social media, live apperances, and so forth? Or, refuse to play the game one week in protest of our society's ills, thereby risking fines or other consequences that would have a personal impact on the player himself. THAT level of free expression would gain my enduring respect.
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