I hate to write an attack on a union on Labor Day, but these guys deserve it.
The Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association has announced that they will not take part in the Cleveland Browns home opener where they had been invited to be part of holding a large American flag as part of a pregame ceremony. The Association’s President, Steve Loomis, said their members would not take part because of the Browns players who knelt in silent prayer during the National Anthem during a preseason game. He complained that the players while benefiting from protection of the flag are kneeling in disrespect of it, and blamed Browns management for allowing their employees to make such a protest.
I suppose we shouldn’t expect anything different from a group that justifies the killing of 12-year old Tamir Rice by Cleveland cops and that decided to give its first-ever endorsement in a Presidential election to authoritarian racist Donald Trump — in a big “FU” to the minority communities with whom Cleveland police relations have been damaged by the Rice case and a broader record of unjustified shooting and violations of civil rights, not to mention the union’s own African-American members.
The Browns organization responded thoughtfully when some of their players knelt in silent prayer during the national anthem at their August 21 preseason game. The team issued a statement:
As an organization, we have a profound respect for our country's National Anthem, flag and the servicemen and servicewomen in the United States and abroad. We feel it's important for our team to join in this great tradition and special moment of recognition, at the same time we also respect the great liberties afforded by our country, including the freedom of personal expression.
Union president Steve Loomis replied by condemning the team for not preventing its players from expressing their beliefs: “The fact that management was aware of what they planned on doing, that's as offensive as it can get."
As offensive as it can get, really? Like, more offensive than pulling up in a car and in a matter of seconds shooting and killing an unarmed 12-year old boy in a park?
But I actually thank the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association for withdrawing from the flag ceremony. They’ve made the Browns home opener a better event.
For me — and I doubt I am alone — the flag is a powerful symbol of the democratic values to which our country aspires, first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and gradually expanded over the years since. I say “aspire” because we consistently fall short. As President Obama said, as a country we continue to work and improve toward becoming “a more perfect union.” The flag echoes that growth, and reminds us of the heroes who have fought for those values across the generations — from the Americans who defeated fascism in World War II to those who marched for civil rights in Selma. It is those heroes and those ideals that the flag represents.
Frankly, it would be having racist, authoritarian assholes like Steve Loomis who espouse fundamentally anti-American values carrying that flag that would desecrate it, not the respectful protest of Browns players kneeling and praying for their country during the anthem. They refuse to take part in the ceremony? Good riddance.