The current person who holds the highest office in the land wants to make saluting the flag and standing for the National Anthem mandatory. Here are some countries, past and present, that enforce(d) such a rule: Nazi Germany; The Empire of Japan (WWII vintage); The U.S.S.R.; The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (That's North Korea if you are unaware of their official title); The People's Republic of China. This is just a partial list.
What else do they have in common besides compulsory obedience to their flag? They are all totalitarian governments, some fascist, some communist. Their people have no freedom and they pay a heavy price for non compliance. Is this what we want for America? I believe Trump does and he has given so many indications in the last nine months that this is the kind of America that he seeks. His insistence that NFL players stand for the flag and anthem is just the latest and just as egregious, if not more-so, than the others.
Our Constitution guarantees the right to free speech and peaceful protest. And, never forget that our country was created out of protest and made greater along the way by brave patriots who were courageous enough to stand up to injustice.
Instead of channeling our anger toward those who protest against injustice should we not be directing it toward those who would take their right to protest away? Should we not, as citizens of a, still free, nation be listening to their call for justice, seeking to understand their grievances and joining them in seeking ways to alleviate them? If we truly believe in liberty and justice for all, as stated in the Pledge of Allegiance, can we, should we, just ignore the oppression of any individual citizen or group of citizens in this nation?
I keep hearing from those who tend to be a bit too caught up in nationalistic mentality, the kind that believes in the "my country right or wrong" mantra, that the athletes who are protesting are playing a game and making millions of dollars doing it. Why should they protest? The people who question this just don't get it. The athletes protesting are not doing so for themselves, they are representing a race of people who have been oppressed in this country since before it was a country. Recent events, many detailed in news accounts and on social media, have shown that the progress that we once thought we had made in ending racial discrimination has regressed dramatically. Perhaps we never did make any progress at all. As representatives of people of color in this country these athletes, because of their fame and notoriety, have some influence that others might not have to call attention to these injustices, and they have stepped up to do so.
We must respect the rights of those who would "take a knee". To do otherwise is to disrespect the rights of any citizen to speak freely and protest any grievance peacefully. We can either do this or we can follow Trump's lead and move closer and closer to becoming a totalitarian state. We can go one direction or the other, we cannot go both ways.
