The NFL (Not For Long, Not Funny League) has modified its rules on political demonstrations to tacitly condone the protests against the flag of the United States. This, despite banning a tribute to 911 victims by the NFL in earlier years. Some have suggested, that by kneeling in protest in front of the flag, NFL players are not really protesting the flag. Really, it must be the Nazi, White Supremacist in Section 12, Row 8.
No, it actually was the flag that they protested. What courage is that? You soften your protest if you come back and say, it really wasn’t an attack on the flag as some have said. Suppose an opponent of abortion protested in the same manner and pointed to the crowd and said, “I was aiming for that right-to-do-with-your-body-whatever-you-want woman in Section 66, Row versus Wade, not the flag.” Yes, it is actually the flag.
The irony in this is that the flag covers even the flag protestors (if they are United States citizens). So, in a sense they are protesting themselves. Perhaps that is not wrong, but intellectually it means nothing; protesting the flag is a cry for (publicity) help. Protestors do such things to draw attention to their narcissistic selves as if they are above the flag. But the flag represents everyone and stands above them, and should represent a deeper solemnity for the pain and sacrifice of those who have suffered and died for the flag and what it represents.
Angry Iranians, as well as others, burn the American flag. It is not their flag. Americans have not taken to burning foreign flags, just their own. Such is the freedom in this country. When women and slaves lacked the vote, there might be an argument that they could protest by burning the flag to demonstrate their plight. But, again, American citizens with the vote protesting their own flag, protest themselves.
That it is offensive to many of their fellow Americans does not bother them. Offending foreign people of color insensitively is tantamount to a crime against humanity. Offending patriotic Americans – no big deal.
A fair person must honestly say, protest is honorable, and if a grievance is heartfelt, a thoughtful person must also say, go for it. But that is not a license for any action the imagination can summon. Physical harm is not allowed, and other societal proscriptions may apply. Dishonoring the flag is one of them.
But here is the heart of the matter: the American flag is a broad brush. Attacking the flag is an attack on Jew and Gentile, Black and White, Old and Young, Gay and Straight, and all the combinations and possibilities that come under the banner of Citizen of the United States.
The flag that the NFLers protested is the symbol that has draped the coffins of its soldiers of all kinds and colors. Those who have died and given up everything that comes with a long life, should remain the most honored citizens – revered and respected, and not a cause for diminishing the American flag. Let us remember, the first man to die in the Revolutionary War was the likely runaway slave, Crispus Attucks, who was half Black and half Native American. Since then many have suffered and died for their country – a country that honors protest, but not desecration or disrespect.