When Colin Kaepernick first decided to take a knee in protest of the unlawful use of excessive force by white police officers against unarmed black men, I wrote that I would take a knee. If I were fortunate enough to be an athlete whose natural talents and hard work had placed me on a national stage, I would still take a knee. I would walk out of the invisible world of the locker room and onto the televised field of play, and I would kneel. I would do this because peaceful protest is just as much a part of our collective history as are slavery, segregation, and suppression of black Americans.
A couple days ago NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made an announcement. “This season,” he said, “all league and team personnel shall stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem.” Right there, he misses a fundamental truth: kneeling is a respectful gesture; a gesture meant to draw attention to a gross social injustice is not synonymous with disrespecting the flag, the anthem, or the country. Drawing attention to the mistreatment of fellow citizens in the hopes of righting that wrong is a patriotic act.
Goodell went on to explain that any “personnel who choose not to stand for the anthem may stay in the locker room until after the anthem has been performed.” So players can protest as long as no one can possibly see their protest. Players can draw attention to the injustices of our society as long as it doesn’t actually draw any attention.
I hope everyone sees the irony. Goodell made this announcement on the same day that Milwaukee police released footage from police officers’ body cameras showing us exactly why these protests are necessary. Sterling Brown- a player for the Milwaukee Bucks- parked his car over two spaces in a nearly empty parking lot. Sure, he shouldn’t have done that.
In the released video he talks to a number of officers who encircle him for several minutes before they begin demanding that he take his hands out of his pockets. “No,” he replies, “I got stuff in my hands.” He never makes a single movement that could ever be construed as menacing. Some will say he should have cooperated and taken his hands out of his pockets. But, despite his refusal to cooperate with that request, no reasonable person can justify what happens next.
One officer grabs him, and the others swarm in. They tackle him to the ground and tase him. You read that right. A group of armed police officers tackle him to the ground, and still an officer finds it necessary to use his taser. He was parked illegally.
Be honest. Is there anyone reading this who thinks that would have happened if he were white?
“We believe today’s decision will keep our focus on the game and the extraordinary athletes who play it,” Goodell explained on Wednesday. There are a few other ways he could have worded that. “We believe that today’s decision will keep our focus on profit margins and the spectacle of our product, rather than on the humanity of our players,” he might have said. “We believe today’s decision will help whitewash any controversy from the product we are pedaling to the public, and help us all enjoy a Sunday game focused only on cheerleaders and big hits rather than having to think about the complexities of racism or police brutality.” I suppose racism and police brutality don’t make good material for a beer commercial.
“What NFL owners did today was thwart the players’ constitutional rights to express themselves and use our platform to draw attention to social injustices like racial inequality in our country,” wrote the Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins in a tweet. “Everyone loses when voices get stifled.” Jenkins, an active leader in the players’ protests, is correct.
Chris Long, another outspoken member of the Eagles said, “This is fear of a diminished bottom line. It’s also fear of a president turning his base against a corporation. This is not patriotism. Don’t get it confused.”
This silencing of protest is not patriotism. Still, people do seem to be confused. I am sure Goodell chose the week leading up to Memorial Day to capitalize on people's patriotism and nationalistic pride. Perhaps he hoped his assessment that protest is inextricably linked to disrespect would play well amid all the flag waving. People would not see what is actually happening.
As I wrote last time, “those taking a knee are protesting the fact that parents of young black boys are far more likely to bury their children than their white counterparts. They are protesting against racism, against a system of racial profiling, against police brutality, and now against censorship of free speech.”
So, I would take a knee. I would take a knee to show my sons what it means to use the advantages we have been given in being born white to help those who don’t have those advantages. I would take a knee to show the black kids I teach that I understand the injustices they face and I am not okay with them. I would take a knee in celebration of the power to use peaceful protest as a means to create change.
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