One of the things that
sticks most with me from my university life is the remark made to me by my
Sociology Professor. He was a retired soldier who said "pride and
ignorance work hand and hand".
On Friday August 26th,2016
Colin Kaepernick at the beginning of a football game between the San Francisco
49ers and the Green Bay Packers refused to stand for the national anthem out of
support for African Americans and other minorities. In response to his sitting
down during the "Star Spangled Banner" he said "I am not going to
stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people
of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my
part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting
paid leave and getting away with murder."
Before we dissect this action the "Star Spangled Banner" itself is somewhat suspect. During the War of
1812 author of the national anthem Francis Scott Key during the Battle of
Baltimore he was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American
forces at Fort McHenry during the on the night of Monday,September 13-14 in 1814.
The fact that the Americans defended the fort and were not
defeated inspired his writing of the
song.But there are some facts that are not known by many about Francis Scott
Key and the "Star Spangled Banner". From the original draft of the song there are many lyrics rhat had to be deleted.Here are some of the omitted lyrics:
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more,
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
Francis Scott Key
was a slave owner and a staunch anti-abolitionist. The British inducted many
runaway slaves into their army with the promise that if they fought for the
British they would be free at the end of the war. This infuriated Francis Scott
Key. It is no surprise that Colin Kaepernick may want to sit down for a song
that somewhat glorifys anti-abolitionists hindering runaway slaves hopes of being emancipated.
Rush Limbaugh,Glenn
Beck,Sean Hannity,Bill O'Reilly and other right-wing wackos were quick to call
Kaepernick unpatriotic and insulting to US Armed Forces.
First of all when
right wing wackos protest in front of abortion clinics because they oppose a
woman being allowed to do with her own body as she so choses. These right wing
wackos are able to do so because US troops are defending their right to
protest.
When right wing
wackos protest in front of government buildings because they wish to
discriminate and vilify LGBT people. Again,they
are able to do so because US troops are defending them 0f their right to do so.
So,when with
impunity the police murder US citizens in the street and have their actions
supported by everyone right up to the President.Colin Kaepernick is protesting
this behavior by refusing to stand for the National Anthem.He is doing so
because the US troops are defending him of his right to do so.
Kaepernick's
refusal to stand for the "Star Spangled Banner" is the latest
lightning rod.Kaepernick said he was trying to raise awareness about the fact
that this country isn't living up to the motto of "liberty and justice for
all." He also said that he would continue to sit through the national anthem "until there's significant change" and the "flag represents what it's supposed to represent."
Along with the reactions I previously
mentioned, Kaepernick's protest sparked a firestorm of outrage, quite literally
so in the case of one 49ers fan,who burned the QB's jersey and then put a video
of it on Facebook.
According to other
conservatives,Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem is deeply
unpatriotic because it's disrespectful to the military and the police who've
given their lives to keep us safe. Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson
gave a version of this argument during an appearance on Fox so called news.
This is the standard conservative argument that comes up every
time someone disrespects' the flag or "insults" the military and it's just as
wrong as now as it was the hundreds of
other times someone used it to condemn a legitimate protest.
Right-wingers would
never admit it,but what Colin Kaepernick did is actually the most patriotic
thing you can do.The USA was founded in
protest and on egalitarian ideals and using our constitutional protest right to
take a stand for something you believe in is as American (and as patriotic) as
it gets. It's quite literally the type of thing the USA was founded on and
for.You'd think conservatives would understand this,given how they're always
going on about the Constitution and "personal liberty," but
apparently they only mean that for white people.
Unnoticed in most
of the media is the ultimate irony of all this: Levi's,the clothing company
that bought naming rights for the 49ers' stadium,is way more unpatriotic than
Colin Kaepernick will ever be.Even
though it likes to portray itself as a salt-of-the-earth American
company,Levis's,like most of corporate America,has taken advantage of the
so-called free trade era to send most of
its manufacturing jobs overseas.Only one line of Levi's jeans, the 501
classics, is now made here in the U.S.A. Meanwhile, the company's finance,
customer relations, and IT departments are
now also all handled abroad,mostly in India.The outsourcing of Levi's financial
department alone cost 500 jobs.And, according to Citizens for Tax Justice,Levi
Strauss is sitting on over $100 million overseas to avoid paying US income
taxes on the money. Very patriotic!
In other words,
while Colin Kaepernick risks his career (and possibly his life) to take a stand
for people who live and work here in America,Levi's exploits its reputation to
participate in and contribute to the death of the middle class while enriching
its executives and shareholders.But you won't hear anything about that from
Republicans.They've been on Levi's side all along.They've supported so-called
free trade deal after so-called free trade deal,all while talking tough about
God, country, and the flag.
For conservatives,patriotism is just a slogan, and their
crocodile tears about Colin Kaepernick prove it.
The United States
Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989),and reaffirmed in U.S.
v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990),has ruled that due to the First Amendment to
the United States Constitution, it is unconstitutional for a government
(whether federal, state, or municipality) to prohibit the desecration of a flag,
due to its status as "symbolic speech."
Just like one person
has a right to wave it another person has a right to burn it.
