Not at all. I’d still see it as a moment that is treated with great reverence by so many people all around me for reasons that I may or may not understand. I don’t care what your politics are, you can either respect all of the people around you in that moment of great personal significance (or silent contemplation of some mundane crap even), or you can decide that everyone’s attention should be drawn to you.
Should acting out during the Star Spangled Banner become an athlete’s way of raising his or her hand, signalling to everyone that they have something they think is important to say?
Do you think it would be appropriate to interrupt mass at your neighborhood’s Catholic Church to talk about whatever it is you think is more important than their worship?
When will the feminists be dispatched to interrupt religious ceremonies in Saudi Arabia to demand equal rights?
Are there any other somber moments you think should be interrupted so other matters can be highlighted?
I still have the flag that was draped over my father’s coffin when his remains were repatriated (~10 years after he was killed). It was presented to me by the officer in charge of the honor guard. I have never unfolded it, so it remains folded exactly as it was that day, by the honor guard. When I pass, I will bequeath it to my son, who is named after his grandfather. I expect he will never unfold it either.
I don’t think it’s either fair or accurate to describe Kaepernick’s behavior as “acting out.” He didn’t do cartwheels across the field–he knelt silently, and with a gravitas indicating he was very much ‘in the moment.’
In short, I would say his actions pass your ‘great reverence’ test, with flying colors.
I think you missed the point. It is a moment of great reverence when people respect it by keeping silent, and not drawing attention to themselves. The moment somebody decides that everyone should stop whatever it is they are doing and look at them instead, well, that is not exactly revering the moment, is it?
What part about it being freedom/equality makes it less of a moment to hold in great reverence?
Since that’s the opposite of the silence on a knee that didn’t hold up the game or anthem for a second, I’d say no.
Since that’s the opposite of the silence on a knee that didn’t hold up the game or anthem for a second, I’d say no.
If the person feels strongly enough about their position such that they feel the need to “interupt,” I genuinely hope they all get interrupted. Silence and doubt rarely make the world better.
Interestingly enough, back when this controversy started ~1 year ago, NPR had an excellent program on why Americans listened to the Star Spangled banner before sporting events.
It started about 1918, during WWI at a professional baseball game. People were a bit angry at able-bodied men running around playing a game while their loved ones were fighting a war. Someone came up with the idea to play the SSB and have everyone salute the flag to honor the men serving.
It caught on, and (when the SSB became the US national anthem in the 1930s), an Act of Congress was passed to encourage sports teams to play the anthem to honor the troops.
So, long story short, I suppose the anthem can mean anything to anyone, but the official purpose was (and is) to show support for troops, both serving and who paid the ultimate price.
I guess I view what he was doing as more along the lines of ‘conscientious objecting’ rather than an attempt to call attention to himself. The fact that the media turned it into a reverence-disrupting spectacle is not on Kaepernick.
Of course it is. He was free, as we all are, to use that moment however he wished. He used it in a way to draw attention to himself, plain and simple. It worked. Of course it worked.
Edit: Do you seriously think Kapernick was trying to be discrete?
We stand because we are Americans and think that being American and living as an American is worth being grateful for. There is undoubtedly some degree of variation from person to person as to what American values are and what being American means. But choosing to kneel is to say that either you don’t want to have part in those American values or that you believe those around you who stand don’t really understand true American values.
Either way it’s divisive, confrontational, and definitionally unamerican.
Why do people keep INSISTING they know what the flag means and every other answer is wrong. Even when people say it varies they’re like “But if you do this it’s for the reasons I say and no other reasons exist”
You’re missing the point. The flag and America can mean to you whatever you want it to mean. Choosing to not take part in the ceremony means you don’t want part of whatever that flag means. I don’t know what Colin Kaepernick thinks it means when you stand for the national anthem. But I do know that whatever he thinks it means was so offensive to him that he chose to kneel.
Makes logical sense (is also completely different from what you JUST said kneeling means). Where’s the part where it’s unamerican/divisive/confrontational to peacefully exercise free speech in a way that harms no one.
Divisive because kneeling is specifically choosing to do something because it is different than what others are doing and what is expected. Hence divisive.
Confrontational because it implies that you don’t think that standing is the right thing to do, although it is what everyone else is doing. It is done publicly and with the intent of starting a confrontation about whether or not we should be showing respect for the flag. Hence confrontational.
Unamerican because the American flag literally represents America, whatever you think America is and standing literally represents showing respect to America. Choosing to not stand is thus literally choosing to not show respect to whatever it is that you think America (and the American flag) represent. Hence unamerican.
What if the america that black people know isnt as rosy as the america you know? Should they not draw attention to that very large discrepancy? What other venue is a better place to bring attention to the issue of american racial inequality than during a ceremony that celebrates liberty, justice and equality for all americans?
THe bigger the pedestal, the bigger the reach of your message. A critical commentary on the state of america during a ceremony that celebrates the greatness of america is a wholly appropriate venue. Add in that it is a huge pedestal to get the message out, and it is easy to understand why this protest occurs this way.
What other way would you suggest sports icons get their social equality messages out? Or are you one of those people that would have rather had all the black athletes just stay in their lane, know their role, and shut their mouths?
They can get their message out with their own money on their own time, just like anybody else.
They can start websites and use social media just like everybody else, and hell, if they’re feeling like really putting their money where their moth is- buy some commercial time slots during the game.
Instead, they have disrupted what would otherwise be a somewhat relaxing pass time, and have over ridden viewers choice over whether or not they want to be the recipient of the players message.