Note to the president; saluting flags and standing during anthems are quaint symbolic and ceremonial gestures of pomp and circumstance. The racially motivated mistreatment of African Americans by our criminal justice system actually effects lives in tremendously detrimental ways. You may not think black lives matter very much, but they matter more than kneeling at a ball game. Perhaps if we dissect your tirades, we can try to put things in perspective for you.
“Un-American sons of bitches” is what you called the NFL players who followed Colin Kaepernick’s lead by kneeling during the National Anthem. There is simply nothing more American than the right to peaceful protest. Traditional Americanism is defined by individual independence and equality. These athletes were protesting the inequality of our institutions, particularly the criminal justice system. As for your decidedly un-presidential and somewhat racist decision to call them “sons of bitches” Colin Kaepernick’s mother handled that eloquently than I ever could by retorting, “Guess that makes me one proud bitch.” I like to think your mother wouldn’t be so proud.
You also accused them of “Disrespecting the flag.” Great misdirect, but I looked it up, the flag stands for hardiness, purity, innocence, perseverance and justice. African Americans must be some pretty hardy folk to persevere in a not so innocent system that refuses to treat them with a purity of justice. These athletes are protesting the racial injustice permeating our criminal justice system that you and your attorney general, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, have chose to propagate rather than eliminate.
Despite the fact that you are our first 5 time deferred from military service commander in chief, you were able to state without acknowledging a hint of hypocrisy, “They are disrespecting our military.” Well Donnie, nearly half of our military are made up of people of color. You should ask them what offends them more, athletes kneeling during the National Anthem, or the racist institutions they will come home to if they are lucky enough to survive your little dick measuring contest with Kim Jong Un (I mean Rocket man).
Your high-flying treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, said “The players should protest on their own time.” Actually, during the National Anthem is a very appropriate time, not only because everyone is watching, but also because the Star-Spangled Banner was written by a slave owner. As a matter of fact, the third verse, often omitted from recitations, references slavery, celebrates the futility of dead of slaves who sided against a country who enslaved them and claims America the land for free men. Who knew racism could be so complicated?
The apparently blacklisted Colin Kaepernick and the brave NFL players who protest have been greatly derided by those who follow your broken moral compass. After you threatened them, the spineless Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones are threatening to end the careers of rest of the protesting athletes if they refuse to relinquish their first amendment rights.
Standing up against racism in our country has always come at a grave cost. Most of us already know this, but Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. were both assassinated for fostering racial equality. Muhammad Ali sacrificed his title, Rosa Parks, a young woman at the time, was arrested for refusing to sit in the back of the bus. They were all demeaned at the time, but have since been rightly celebrated for their valor and perseverance in the ugly face of racism.
I know you are not a student of history…or much else, but if I were an insecure egomaniacal president like you, I would worry. History suggests that 50 years from now, Colin Kaepernick will probably be regarded as another American hero and you, Donald Trump as an another racist stain on our country’s troubled history.
- Michael D’Antuono