NFL anthem protests, educated opinion of a "privileged" white guy

NFL protests of the National Anthem  |  by a "privileged" white guy #TakeAKnee 

As I prepared to watch my first NFL game of the season, I wondered if the protest against our nation's national anthem was going to continue. You know, the one intended to shine light on the injustice people of color suffer on a daily basis. It is continuing, but it is not going as the players hoped it would. Although players have stated that their protests have nothing to do with service members, U.S. citizens are still angry. Look at any Facebook post referencing the protests and in the comments section you are bound to see "that is offensive to our veterans" or "they are spitting on the flag" in as many variations as there are stars in the sky. To be clear, the protests, which are against the National Anthem and consequently the US flag,  are certainly offensive to our veterans and our nation, regardless of their intentions. Social media personalities have taken to their respective platforms to speak against the protests. One such personality is Graham Allen, whose video has been watched over 12 million times in less than 24 hours. Mr. Allen offers insightful facts about military veterans, the US flag, the National Anthem, and our nation. He even ventures out into the realm of "white privilege".

Military veterans, past and present, put their lives on the line (over 651,031 veterans have died in combat [1]) to defend our country, the constitution, and the American way of life. So how is the flag connected to our nation's service members? For one, it is draped over a casket containing a deceased service member. The flag is also offered after burial to a surviving family member, signifying that service member's sacrifice to the country [2]. So the most significant connection is sacrifice.

Others take additional offense because these protests are disrespectful to our nation. The flag represents many things. These include, but are not limited to, the creed of the United States  and the individual states themselves (The US flag contains 50 stars, one for each state [3]). A book on the flag published in 1977 by the House of Representatives has the following to say about the colors of the flag: 

"The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice" [4]

GET READY TO BE SCHOOLED!

There is no doubt that the NFL players know their protests are offensive. In a nation, such as the US, the repercussions of protesting our national anthem (and, inherently, the flag) are common sense. It is just disrespectful to service members and patriots, such as yourselves. 

Patriotism. I sure do love our country. I love our veterans as well. Hell, I am a veteran. When I signed up over a decade ago, I pledged to protect the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. There are a lot of great things in our constitution. One of my favorites is the first amendment. The amendment is as follows [5]:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

There are many people calling for the firing or suspension of players who refuse to stand for the national anthem. The most popular argument I have witnessed is along the lines of "this is not the platform, time, or place for protest". But, if I was sincere in my pledge to the constitution, I must be against firing or suspending players who choose to kneel during the National Anthem. Doing so would be censoring the players' first amendment rights. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. shared a great JFK quote on twitter:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4918186/Earnhardt-Jr-disagrees-Trump-supports-protestors.html

I remain offended (that is my right), but I guess I have to support their right to protest too. After all, that is what I fought for.

If the players know they are offending so many people, why do they feel they must continue this protest? When I first asked myself this question, it was sincere; I did not know. I went back to last season when Colin Kaepernick started this protest. In an interview published August 27, 2016 on the NFL network, he stated that he protested because "of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States" [6]. He also referred to civil rights issues. Seriously? Civil rights? I thought we took care of that in 1964? History lesson: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin [7]. 

It is 2017, or 53 years since the Civil Rights Act. If people are still suffering from things such as discrimination because of the color of their skin, we need to take action to get that fixed! But I did not know there were any current civil rights issues with regards to race...pause

Now that I think about it, just because I have not experienced any civil rights issues myself, it does not mean they do not exist. I thought they were a thing of the past. I cannot believe people are still experiencing discrimination. Could this be related to the "white privilege" people keep talking about?

resume...now I am angry. Not about the protests though. I sure as hell did not go to the arm pit of the world, saving innocent civilians from abuse, murder, etc, to come back and have my American brothers and sisters abused, murdered, etc. I spent a year wondering if I was going to die during my deployment; that is enough time to drive a person insane. I cannot imagine feeling that way my entire life, knowing that I am viewed with suspicion by everyone because of the color of my skin, wondering if I might get killed by some trigger happy person because they stereotyped me as a thug.

Diary of a former racist

I want to share a personal experience with you. It is something I noticed a while back and I am continuously working on changing. There was a time where I had two gas stations to choose from when buying gas, your typical energy drink or pack of cigarettes. The gas prices were the same, but the product prices were different. The patrons of the cheaper place were typically non-white and ill-dressed; I found that I was anxious, hyper vigilant around these people. At the more expensive gas station, patrons were the well-dressed, business type of folk. Rather than subject myself to the stress I associated with the cheaper gas station, I opted to shop at the more expensive location. My parents raised me to have manners, so I always open the door for an individual, man or woman, black or white. The probability of receiving a smile or "thank you" at the more expensive location was about 70%. At one point I was doing some inward reflection and  realized some of my faults, the prejudice and assigning of stereotypes to people I did not know. I decided to start shopping at the cheaper gas station. Guess what, the chances of receiving a smile or "thank you" at the cheaper location is the same as the expensive location. I have continued shopping at the cheaper location and I have not been robbed or attacked. These people are not different. They are just as kind as the people I had been opening the door for at the more expensive location. I shared this story with you because I wanted to dispel the popular perception of "white privilege", resulting from subconscious racism. It does not have to do with just money or education. You see, I was suspicious of the patrons at the cheaper gas station because of the color of their skin and the clothes they wore. I don't have to worry about how other people perceive me. I am white. I have never been concerned about someone thinking I may be a thug that could rob them at any second. I am privileged because of the color of my skin.

What have we learned so far?

So far I have concluded that the players have a right to protest, a right that I fought to protect, and that white privilege does exist. Before I can stop being offended, I need to consider if the injustice cited by protesters is real. It's time to do some research. People of color are citing issues with the government itself, so I will be sure to analyze data from both government-sponsored, organizations for people of color, and impartial sources.

What injustice?

The NAACP lists data on their home page that details the percentage of incarcerated individuals by race in 2014 and 2015. According to their data, incarceration of people of color is increasing at a greater rate than those of white people. Here is some of their data [8]:

• In 2014, African Americans constituted 2.3 million, or 34%, of the total 6.8 million correctional population.
• African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites.
• The imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women.
• Nationwide, African American children represent 32% of children who are arrested, 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are judicially waived to criminal court.
• Though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US population, they comprised 56% of all incarcerated people in 2015.
• If African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%.
• Drug Sentencing Disparities
• In the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 17 million whites and 4 million African Americans reported having used an illicit drug within the last month.
• African Americans and whites use drugs at similar rates, but the imprisonment rate of African Americans for drug charges is almost 6 times that of whites.
• African Americans represent 12.5% of illicit drug users, but 29% of those arrested for drug offenses and 33% of those incarcerated in state facilities for drug offenses.

At first glance, there certainly does appear to be an issue with disproportionate arrests and convictions of African Americans compared to white Americans. So what does another source have to say about this? The impartial advocacy group, The Sentencing Project, is made up of a highly prestigious staff, most of which hold doctorate degrees in a law profession. Also, a good 50% of their staff is non-African American. Here is how their data compares [9]:

• The state average of imprisoned African Americans compared to white Americans is 5:1, meaning African Americans are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated.
• From 2000 to 2009, the ratio of black/white female incarcerations decreased from 6:1 to 2.8:1.
• Research in drivers of disparity finds a smaller amount of unwarranted disparity for serious crimes like homicide than for less serious crimes, especially drug crimes.
• Whites and blacks use drugs at roughly the same rate. From 1995 to 2005, African Americans comprised approximately 13 percent of drug users but 36% of drug arrests and 46% of those convicted for drug offenses.
• Blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for drug offenses and 2.5 times as likely to be arrested for drug possession.

Compared to The Sentencing Project, the NAACP's data is modest. They actually rounded down for some of their data! What does government-sponsored research have to say about this? First of all, you should try searching for government-sponsored research of inmates. The data is there, but the analysis is incredibly lacking. The BOP (Federal Bureau of Prisons) is not great, but here is what I found. You can filter out numbers by race, offense, gender, etc individually, but not together. So I know there are currently 80,944 inmates incarcerated for drug offenses [10]. I also know that African Americans are 37.9% of individuals incarcerated for all types of offenses, not just drug-related [11]. The BJS (Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics) is not much better. Their data for 2013 is as follows [12]:

• African Americans made up approximately 42.6% of all prison inmates (private and federal)

And that's it! If you want data for drug related offenses you can read their "up-to-date" data gathered in 1989 here. I will not bother giving you that data since it is essentially useless.

So, after some extensive research, I have concluded that the players have a right to protest, a right that I fought to protect, white privilege does exist, and so does injustice and racial disparity! This is almost a good place to end, but I have one more argument before I can no longer be offended and give the NFL players my full support. Why don't the players actually use their money and fame to do something about at-risk children, poverty, literacy, etc. Well, as it turns out, they are doing other things, such as volunteering! Let us look at what some the players who are kneeling are doing in addition to the anthem protest.

More Than Kneeling

Colin Kaepernick

According to The Washington Post, Kaepernick hosted a "Know Your Rights" camp for underprivileged Bay area kids in October 2016 [13]. You may ask, "Isn't 'Know Your Rights' a Black Panthers thing?". It is admittedly inspired by the Black Panthers. But before you dismiss Kaepernick's volunteerism, take a look at the "Rights" the children were taught:

• You have the right to be free.
• You have the right to be healthy.
• You have the right to be brilliant.
• You have the right to be safe.
• You have the right be loved.
• You have the right to be courageous.
• You have the right to be alive.
• You have the right to be trusted.
• You have the right to be educated.
• You have the right to know your rights.

Russell Wilson

For Russell Wilson, I would like to direct you to the website for his camp, The Russell Wilson Passing Academy, which targets inner city and underprivileged children. This is what his camp says in the "About Us" section:

The Russell Wilson Passing Academy (RWPA) is a football camp for all positions. The purpose of this camp is to help children ages 8-17 develop the fundamental skills of being a great football player through instruction, but our objective is much greater. The RWPA exists to promote the mental and physical development of youth, with the goal of encouraging kids to develop high character and moral standards, a sense of competitiveness and fair play, a respect for authority, service to others, and a love of God, family, and country. In that spirit, the RWPA welcomes inner-city and underprivileged youth to the camp through sponsorships, giving them a much-needed and valuable opportunity to learn the game of football and compete.

Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis founded the Ray Lewis Family Foundation eleven years ago. Since then he has regularly donated food on Thanksgiving to low-income families in Baltimore, hosted youth fitness camps to fight childhood obesity, donated tractor trailers full of back-to-school supplies,...the list goes on!

CONCLUSION

After extensive research, I am now able to fully support the NFL protest of the National Anthem. I am no longer offended as a veteran and proud American. 

I hope you found this Educated Op Ed by a privileged white guy informative and hopefully it strengthened your stance, or at least led you to understand the reasons behind the NFL protests of the National Anthem.

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