September 12, 2020
Football is back. And word has it that the NBA playoffs are in progress (although that may just be a rumor…there was some mention about a “bubble”, no fans and plummeting TV ratings).
Remember when sports used to be fun and enjoyable to watch?
We had our favorite players that we followed and favorite teams which we passionately rooted for…cheering them on in victory and supporting them in defeat. We were true fans indeed.
Sports used to be an outlet…an escape from the daily grind and toll taken on us during the week. We could fully invest ourselves emotionally for a few hours in something we were passionate about, and in those few hours our world consisted only of the game and the people who were watching it with us.
And then something happened…politics and the inflammatory agendas of the world invaded our sports.
One of the primary examples of this is the controversy surrounding the kneeling and other protests by athletes during the playing of our national anthem before games. This all started when Colin Kaepernick began kneeling for the playing of our national anthem before NFL games in 2016.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color”
— Colin Kaepernick
At the time, support for Kaepernick was lukewarm at best, and he was largely treated as a pariah. Now, in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray and other African-Americans involving the police, there has been mass kneeling and other forms of protests by athletes in most of the major sports. The NFL is now throwing itself at the feet of Kaepernick, and athletes from both the professional and college sports world, not to mention billion-dollar corporations like Nike and Disney, are now lauding Kaepernick and calling him a visionary and a hero. The prodigal son is being welcomed back with open arms by no less than the NFL commissioner himself, Roger Goodell.
Kaepernick and other athletes keep trying to tell us that the kneeling is not “about the flag.” That is simply preposterous. It absolutely is about the flag…they are choosing to kneel at the precise moment when everybody’s attention is supposed to be focused on the American flag and when people are singing the national anthem. Even Kaepernick’s own words admit that his kneeling was related to the American flag. Back in August of 2016, when he originally sat (before he began kneeling) for the national anthem, Kaepernick told NFL Media that “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”1
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees suffered an immediate backlash and overwhelming criticism back in June from his fellow athletes and the sports media when he responded to a question about players kneeling during the national anthem by saying “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”2 Brees went on to say that he thought of his grandfathers, who fought in World War II, when he looked at the flag and stood for the national anthem with his hand over his heart. Brees was forced to quickly, and repeatedly, apologize for merely voicing his opinion…an opinion, by the way, that should not have been all that controversial. Whatever happened to tolerance and freedom of speech for simply stating an opinion or belief? Apparently, it only flows in one direction in today’s politically-correct world.
Many athletes and members of the sports media have insisted that kneeling during the national anthem is not intended, and should not be interpreted, as a sign of disrespect towards the flag or the military. Instead, they tell us that the kneeling is intended as a sign of peaceful protest against police brutality and racial injustice.
They also have told us that the flag is not synonymous with the military. Which is true…actually, the military is there to defend and protect this country that our flag represents.
By the same token, however, the flag is also not synonymous with the police and law enforcement. And this is where the supporters of Kaepernick and kneeling for our national anthem are misguided in their protest during the playing of our national anthem.
The American flag represents the country of the United States of America, its constitutional structure (of individual liberty, freedom and limited government) and all of its citizens. And the flag and our national anthem, that these athletes are kneeling for, represent the very country that gives them the freedom and right to do what they are doing in that moment…not to mention the freedom to make millions of dollars and amass the huge wealth and fame that they could achieve nowhere else on earth.
If these athletes still try to maintain that their kneeling during the national anthem is not about the flag or the country, then fine…the athletes should make that abundantly clear by not choosing to kneel or otherwise protest during our national anthem, at the very moment everyone’s attention is on the flag and our country. If their reason for protesting is truly about police brutality against minorities and racial injustice, well then, the appropriate time that they are choosing to protest really shouldn’t be during the national anthem, now should it?
Do these athletes have the constitutional right to kneel in peaceful protest during the playing of our national anthem? Absolutely.
Is the appropriate time and moment for these athletes to conduct this peaceful protest during the playing of our national anthem? Absolutely not.
Is it actually counterproductive for these athletes to kneel in protest during the national anthem, and would it be more productive for them to peacefully protest at a more appropriate time and place? Absolutely.
By kneeling during the national anthem, these athletes are actually losing a significant percentage of their fan base who love this country and revere our flag.
In addition to the kneeling and other forms of protest surrounding the national anthem, there is constant social justice messaging being jammed in the viewers’ faces before, during and after these games…whether it’s in the form of pre-game or post-game interviews, in-game commercials, or social justice messaging in the actual game itself.
In the NBA, many of the players are putting social justice slogans on the backs of their jerseys. In addition, the words “Black Lives Matter” is printed on the basketball court itself. There has been mass kneeling by the players for our national anthem. The in-game commercials contain social justice messaging. And in the post-game interviews, LeBron James and other players decry racial injustice and push their social justice agenda…all the while criticizing the very country that has provided them with the opportunity to make tens (and sometimes hundreds) of millions of dollars, living a lavish lifestyle to which most people on this planet will never be able to relate. It is no wonder, then, that the TV ratings for the NBA have been tanking as a result.
As for the NFL, before the first game of the season between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans on Thursday night, two “anthems” were sung (our national anthem, as well as the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that is referred to as the Black National Anthem). The performers of the American national anthem wore social justice messaging shirts bearing the images of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The Chiefs players all stood for both anthems (with the exception of one player who kneeled with his fist in the air), while the Houston Texans team stayed in their locker room for both anthems.
The Texans then came on the field, and there was a moment where both teams linked arms in a moment of silence that was apparently intended to promote unity. There was booing from the fans. The sports media was stunned by this and told us that the fans were “booing unity.” They completely misread the situation…the fans were not booing unity; instead, they were booing the injection of politics and social justice messaging into the game they love.
There was also a lot of visual social justice messaging during the pregame and also in the in-game commercials, including references to “Black Lives Matter”.
With regard to the playing of the two “anthems” that will be played before every NFL game, all that approach does is create another form of separation and division. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, and in fact it is a powerfully moving song. It is understandably a song of great importance to a number of African-Americans; however, playing this song as a second “anthem” is not a path that will unify the country…especially when it is distinct, and stands separate, from our country’s national anthem.
As for the ubiquitous references to “Black Lives Matter”, this messaging definitely needs clarification, as multiple agendas and meanings have been ascribed to this statement. In particular, there needs to be a very clear distinction made between the concept that ALL black lives actually DO matter (in alignment with the Biblical principle that all human beings are God’s creation and every human life is precious), and the Black Lives Matter organization, which is a radical Marxist organization that has self-proclaimed Marxists as its founders. The Black Lives Matter organization supports, and is participating in, the rioting and violence that is happening in many of our cities, and they also support the disruption of the “nuclear family structure” (as clearly stated on their website).
The Black Lives Matter organization does not really care about black lives. If they did, they would not be supporting and participating in the rioting, violence and looting going on in our cities, which are destroying many black and minority-owned small businesses. They also would be camped out in cities like Chicago every single day, shining a spotlight on the numerous murders of black people that are occurring every single week due primarily to drug and gang-related violence.
If the NFL and NBA are helping to finance and promote the Black Lives Matter Marxist organization, then their respective fan bases are going to decline significantly. If, on the other hand, the NFL and NBA are somehow not supporting the Black Lives Matter organization, but are attempting instead to simply support the concept that all black lives do in fact matter, well then the leagues and their players need to make their intentions much more clear.
And in any event, the athletes and sports media, as well as society in general, need to realize that by only permitting the statement “Black Lives Matter” to be said, while at the same time attacking and rejecting anyone who tries to say instead that “All Lives Matter” (and, at last check, all means everyone, including all black people), it does nothing but create even more division. Any statement, like “Black Lives Matter” (or, for that matter, any multicultural “hyphenated American” type labeling), which is based on identity politics and creates a subset of the American population, is not a successful approach to unify the people of this country as Americans.
The approach currently being taken by these sports leagues, athletes and the sports media is counterproductive. Instead of doing symbolic and unpopular gestures like kneeling during the national anthem, there is a more effective way to peacefully protest and effectuate real change, while still holding onto the support of their fan bases. Stop kneeling and protesting during games, stop with the constant social justice messaging during games, and instead organize peaceful protest events and rallies in their cities at locations where the inner-city communities need their help the most. These athletes are high-profile enough to be able to draw huge crowds to these inner-city communities, where they can then hold organized peaceful protests (meaning truly peaceful, not as characterized by the radical left and the media) and focus their attention on attempting to achieve positive, meaningful change. These athletes can also financially contribute to those organizations that they support which are working to accomplish real change. Actually getting involved in the community is how to enact change, not by simply doing symbolic gestures like kneeling which just create further anger and division.
As for the games themselves, it’s really very simple. Stop politicizing sports!! Fans are paying money, or watching games on TV, to just watch the game and be entertained. (yeah, exactly…what a concept!)
As a sports fan, think about why you decide to go to a game or watch one on TV. Is it because you are hoping to see a political agenda or a form of protest? Or do you just want to watch the game?
Fans are not paying money or turning on the game to instead watch a political and cultural protest and have non-stop social justice messaging jammed into their faces, or to be lectured to and told how much our country is systemically racist. THE GAMES NEED TO SIMPLY BE ABOUT THE GAMES!!
If the sports leagues, athletes and sports media do not learn this lesson in a hurry, they will see their fan bases leave in significant numbers, and their massive salaries and revenue streams will take a huge hit.
To the sports leagues and athletes…please get the politics and protesting out of sports, and allow your fans to once again enjoy watching the games and watch you do what you do best, which is utilizing the incredible skills and athletic talent that God gave you!
1 “Colin Kaepernick explains why he sat for national anthem” by Steve Wyche, NFL Media Reporter, published on nfl.com on August 27, 2016.
2 “Drew Brees Apologizes for Calling Kneeling During the Anthem ‘Disrespectful’” by Michael Levenson, published in The New York Times on June 3, 2020.
Wow! This is very well written and so accurate! Describes EXACTLY the way I feel. I have given up watching the NFL and NBA because of this and honestly am not sure if I will ever watch again.
Sports isn’t fun to watch anymore. It has become more about politics and less about the sport. We don’t need to pay to watch that – we have news outlets for that.
Very good article!
If the purpose of kneeling is to promote social justice, a better approach might be to stand for the National Anthem and the flag first, second, have an announcement over the PA system for a moment of silence and PRAYER for social justice.
I realize, BLM is not really about black lives. If it was, the same people would be protesting the unfortunate deaths of blacks (including babies and children) caused by Thugs in many of our major cities.
Good article. As a sports fan and someone who loves our country, I must say that I am very disappointed with how kneeling for the flag during the National Anthem is acceptable behavior. I support social justice especially if it is inclusive for all. A novel idea might be to stand for the National Anthem and before halftime have all of the players kneel for a moment of silence and prayer for social justice. In my humble opinion, this would get attention and most likely support from everyone.