#56. This Is What Democracy Looks Like!
This morning I was FRUSTRATED.
I re-posted a link to an article discussing the other players in the NFL who decided to protest during the National Anthem. And a Facebook friend commented, Thugs. No respect.
No, sir. A thug is a
noun
a violent person, especially a criminal.
These men are not thugs. They are brave AMERICANS. And this is the essence of being an American. And the essence of what America is. Giving her children the right to practice non-violent protests without fear of reprisals from an authoritarian government.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the last few weeks, you’re aware that an National Football League player, Colin Kaeparnick, opted at first to sit and then, in subsequent games, kneel down during the National Anthem as a protest to the way black people and people of color are treated in America.
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.
Yesterday, other NFL players protested too. Across the country players’ arms were linked, some knelt, and an individual raised his arm in a fashion reminiscent to the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute, to show solidarity with Kaepernick and protest what these players feel is a wrong in our country.
My wife and I just finished the “March” trilogy, a graphic novel recounting John Lewis’s civil rights memoirs. An amazing and vivid look at what non-violent protests look like and what they can accomplish.
And a look into what democracy looks like. And what being an American looks like.
And it looks a lot like what these men are doing.
You may not agree with what these men are saying, and/or how they’re saying it, but they have the pulpit. And they have every right. As Americans.
Go on young men!
