Nurse the Hate: The NFL Anthem Fiasco

The NFL is generally adept at handling public relations issues with expertise.  I am not exactly sure what happened with this National Anthem thing.  Sure, they were in a difficult situation.  If they did not act, players would continue to protest police brutality and a segment of their customer base would freak out.  If they responded in too heavy handed a manner, they would be viewed as trying to silence the players right to peacefully protest in a democratic society.  It came down to two choices.  They could have the players off the field during the anthem to sweep the issue into the locker room OR they could force the players to stand at attention and levy fines against the team for non-compliance.  They chose the second option.

The players have voiced that they see this as their right to expression being squashed and their employer not supporting their cause.  The NFL has somehow made themselves bad guys to all their players, and pitted the employees versus owners.  Why they have backed these guys into a corner is hard to fathom.  They have taken what was once a small issue and now given it new life.  Making matters even worse for them was the release of a video from January of a Milwaukee Bucks player being roughed up by six cars of cops for no particular reason.  Sure, he double parked at a Walgreens, but my guess is that not too many suburban white guys get tased and arrested for that crime.  If Jerry Jones of the Cowboys had a nightstick shoved up his ass by six carfuls of cops after strolling out of Target, my guess is he might be OK with taking a knee for “awareness” of that issue.

My thought is that it might be a good idea just to scrap the entire anthem.  I have taken friends of mine from other nations to major league sporting events.  Seeing it through their eyes is sobering.  Imagine if you want to a soccer match in Germany in 1938.  Prior to the game an enormous swastika flag is unfurled as members of the Hitler Youth stand next to soldiers waving it as the anthem is played.  At the conclusion of the anthem, a wave of Luftwaffe bombers flies over the stadium to the roar of the crowd.  Later in the first half, the Jumbotron features photos of Wehrmacht troops with the announcer intoning instructions to “remember our veterans and thank them for their service”.  At halftime troops march out onto the field to present certificates to recently returned soldiers.  Whatever would be a German version of “Proud To Be An American” booms from the speakers.  An enormous swastika flag flies next to the scoreboard.  It’s creepy as shit, right?  What does any of it have to do with football?

The problem appears to be the disconnect between Trump Nation and reality regarding what the flag represents.  Somewhere after 9/11 many in the population decided that The Flag=The Army.  To not hold any flag ceremony in the upmost reverence indicated you were somehow “against the troops”.  My understanding of the flag was it represented the ideals of the nation in question.  In the case of the United States that means the right to protest, equality, and having a voice.  Isn’t the most patriotic thing to not only allow the players to protest during the pointless flag ceremony but support their right to do so?  At no point have the participants in that protest indicate they were against the nation.  They are protesting paid employees of the nation killing them in their communities unjustly.  It’s a legitimate issue.  I would argue that they are more active participants in what our nation is supposed to be about than anyone screaming about how anyone that has ever been in a uniform of any kind is a “hero” and are the ones being represented by a flag ceremony at a football game.

Nationalism is on a rise that doesn’t appear to be stopping soon.  The NFL owners caved in because it was easier than fighting for principles.  The Press is being attacked daily for reporting facts.  The justice system is under siege for doing their jobs.  The ideals of this nation are disappearing.  Maybe you can’t identify with the ones being silenced now, but if history shows anything, it’s that you will identify with them soon enough.