Sitting for the Anthem

So, Colin Kaepernick, quaterback of the San Fransisco 49ers, refuses to stand for the playing of the National Anthem, until such a time that the systems under which we live in this country reflect equal protections and securities for people of color. Since refusing to stand, and explaining his actions to the media, Kaepernick has been under brutal attack. People have burned his jersey in a public act of repulsion. He has been called every name in the book - and some that aren't - on social media outlets. Team ownership has been called upon to fire him. Companies have been asked to remove him as an endorsement of their products. Fingers have been pointed at him. Shouts have rung out. Let's all hate Colin Kaepernick.

First things first. I do not agree with Mr. Kaepernick's actions. I do not embrace the act of refusing to stand for the playing of the National Anthem. While I firmly hold that he has a point about racial discrimination as a deeply seeded problem in this country, and while I believe that problem is articulated in nearly every facet of our communal life, I do not believe that Mr. Kaepernick's act will do anything toward resolution. In fact, it has simply driven a wedge.

While I do not believe that Mr. Kaepernick's act will bring positive resolution, and while I see the act as divisive, I defend Mr. Kaepernick's right to make this statement. After all, in that very anthem that Colin Kaepernick decries, we sing "...land of the free and the home of the brave." Firstly, it takes considerable courage for Mr. Keapernick to take this radical stance, or lack of stance, as the case may be. It is a courageous act of social dissidence, whether or not we agree. Secondly, Mr. Kaepernick is well within his rights to respond to the playing of the National Anthem in any way that he sees fit. He is free to do so. He is not free to force anyone else to do as he chooses, of course. Neither, certainly, are we free to demand that he act as we see fit. I have a right to stand in response to the National Anthem, even to place my hand over my heart, if I wish (see previous blog post on Gabby Douglas), but I have no right to demand that others do as I see fit.

I have seen recordings of Colin Kaepernick's act of civil defiance. As I watched him sit through the National Anthem, I took note of his important point. I am convinced that the level of vitriol pointed at Colin Kaepernick reflects a much deeper problem than his simple act of civil demonstration. Racism is a major issue in this country, one with which we must deal openly and frankly. As importantly, however, I think, is the fact that people feel the right and obligation to criticize - even reject - those whose choices differ from their own. If this is the "land of the free," then we have the right to act in the ways that we see fit, but not the right to mandate our ways in the lives of others.

It is ironic, I think, that such hoopla is created in the world of sports. Sports have no intrinsic social or civic value. If we believe that sports teach us team approaches, fairness, honesty,  and corporate values and virtues, I would suggest that history has shown as powerfully the exact opposite. The world of sports has taught us privilege, arrogance, dishonesty and lack of virtue as much as it has shown us any positive benefit. Listen to fans of competing teams interact. Be a witness to the way that the world of sports creates a different social stratum, one all-too-often devoid of social responsibility or civic duty. I am aware that there are positive examples as well. It is funny to me, though, that the loudest social statements can be made in the course of an arena so devoid of intrinsic value.

So, before we demand that the 49ers fire Colin Kaepernick, before we demand that his sponsors remove him from endorsing their products, before we burn his jersey in effigy, before we call him names, let's all consider the point(s) that he is making. Let us not extend our own freedoms onto his actions. Let us, instead, put his act of social dissidence into proper perspective, walking a mile in his cleats, watching and listening, even when we might disagree. Perhaps his witness might lead to some new attention being paid to the racial climate in America, the rights of persons to make such bold statements, and the proper place of sports in the national dialogue.