The NFL, The Flag & Me

This piece is being written ironically enough while I watch Sunday Night football on TV. I’m not sure I can do justice to the injustice of having privileged athletes now being the poster children of how to fix the racial inequalities that are claimed to exist in this country.

Now, as a white male, I will never know what it feels like to be a black person, many of whom feel that they are treated differently because of the color of their skin. Some state that they fear for their lives or their children’s lives at the hands of police officers who may be too quick to use lethal force just because they are dealing with a person of color.

On the other hand, the vast majority of those making these claims will not be able to understand what I did for 40 years as a law enforcement officer, and will not understand what it is like to know that every interaction you have with someone, regardless of their skin color or ethnicity, could lead to your own death simply because of the uniform you wear and the fact that you decided to be one of thousands who took an oath to stand up for people who may not be able to protect themselves from the worst that humanity has to offer.

Who’s right and who’s wrong in this struggle? Statistically, just about every 2-3 days, a police officer somewhere in this country will lose his life in the line of duty. This happens so often that the sense of outrage usually is reserved for the people close to the officer - his (or her) family, his department, and some from his community will feel the pain. Some who subscribe to various law enforcement friendly Facebook pages will read about it, and then go back about their business. 

Police officers every day have thousands of interactions with the citizens they serve, and yes, on occasion there is a loss of life from those interactions. But research those incidents and by and large the officer’s involved were acting in accordance with the law. The truth is there are not that many “bad” shootings or other incidents where someone is killed by the police. Even some of the more sensationalized incidents, such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, turned out to be justified, although there are some to this day trying to claim otherwise. I agree that when a bad shooting happens there should be concern because it unfortunately taints all the good officers out doing there job. Once a life is taken, there is no undoing it, and so I certainly understand the frustration. But the frustration is not borne out by the statistical facts and we are castigating all the police when it is a really small number who bring discredit to the profession.

But regardless of any particular case, or what side you want to believe in these cases, there is undoubtedly a racial divide that still exists culturally in this country. Interestingly, there are many white people who feel they need to express the outrage for the black community, and conversely there are many within the black community who not only don’t agree with that outrage, they feel that some within the black community continue to propagate the stereotypes that lead to this culture clash by continuing to act out rather than trying to actually do something to make things better.

Then along comes Colin Kaepernick. He was not the first to protest racial injustice in this country, but the most recent movement amongst professional athletes certainly started with his actions. I probably should be more offended by the disrespect these athletes are displaying every week, but here’s my take on it all.

At 18 I joined the US Army. I didn’t do so out of any great sense of patriotism. I was looking for a place where I could serve as a police officer, something I had wanted to do since I was very young. Frankly, had I known at the time that there were places near me where you could be a police officer at 18 I probably would have never joined the military. I spent 3 years at two very different bases - Ft. Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska and the US Military Academy at West Point. Rather than belabor the point, I will just say that I grew up quick and learned a lot from that military experience, much of which I still carry with me today. While I was fortunate to not have to serve in combat, I have mad respect for those that have. While I didn’t serve in combat, there were certainly instances where we were close to being deployed. In my post-military career, I did face life and death situations while working as a police officer, so I do have some sense of what that does to someone, both mentally and physically.

With that as a backdrop, there are certain things I have learned to respect in life. On a military base, when the base flag is raised or lowered, everything and everyone comes to a stop. You get out of your car and you salute that flag. I happen to be a fan of the pledge of allegiance in school, and even in a workplace if that is the custom of your workplace. For a period of time at my department we stood and said the pledge at every roll call or turnout, and as a supervisor I was committed to that action. I took a few people to task who felt they didn’t need to share in our enthusiasm for the pledge. But that sentiment ran its course, and the practice eventually subsided. I was OK with that as well. But there are certain places where the custom has been and remains to this day that you stand and show your respect of the flag at various ceremonies. For as long as I have been on this planet, that respect also extended to every professional sporting event. Do I stand up at home when the anthem comes on TV? No, I do not. But if I’m in a public venue where the custom is to stand and show respect for the flag of this great nation then that is what I do. Would I think less of the person seated next to me if they chose not to stand? Yes I would, but I probably wouldn’t make a big deal of it or say anything to them. Inside I would be saying what an a..hole they were, but certainly wouldn’t be worth getting into an argument or fight over it. But that’s a fellow spectator. It takes on a totally different light when one of the people we are there to watch perform decides to make the pledge of allegiance or the Star Spangled Banner their personal platform to express their feelings about racial inequality.

What started with Kaepernick has spread to other players, and now to entire teams. Baseball was free from this until just today. The WNBA has it too, and we are just getting into the NBA and NHL seasons. Will they too be joining in? I can see the NBA for sure, but I’ll be surprised, but certainly not shocked, if the NHL joins in. What I struggle with is why these gifted athletes feel that they have an absolute right to express themselves in such a public manner. The freedoms we enjoy because of those who fought to make this country what it is come with certain other freedoms, like the freedom of the person signing your paycheck telling you that if you express yourself in a certain way you may find yourself on the unemployment rolls. Just ask Kaepernick about that. I admire an owner like Jerry Jones who tells his team you will stand or you will be going home. That’s his right as the owner of the team. These athletes and other celebrities have the luxury of having a public audience almost any time they want one. Their comments can be heard around the globe, either from traditional media or through social media channels. Like it or not a lot of people treat sports and entertainment figures as “heroes” and hang on their every word. Just because you can play football or are an actor or comedian doesn’t mean you know crap about anything, and sometimes what spews from celebrity mouths is, well, crap! Frankly, I like a lot of movies that Whoopi Goldberg was in, but I think the woman is a racist. Her fellow View nudnik Joy Behar I just think is a moron. I cringe when these two talk about the issues we face like they are the moral compasses we should all be following. We as a nation have always treated our celebrities as heroes and our heroes as something less. And it will likely always be that way. 

We can certainly appreciate the right to protest, especially if that protest is done peacefully and doesn’t do things like cause havoc with major city traffic. And I guess those looking to spark discussions about inequalities are getting what they want by all the talk that revolves around these kneeling protests, or even when entire teams decide to sit in the locker room during the National Anthem. I for one don’t really see the correlation between disrespecting our flag and the symbolism the entire pre-game ritual with the Anthem stands for and the kneeling to protest social injustice, but that’s just me. I get those who say these athletes are not disrespecting the flag at all, and they are just using the moment to advocate for a bigger cause by means of peaceful protest. I don’t agree with that sentiment, but I understand those who feel that is their interpretation of what is taking place.

It will be interesting to see where all this goes. I know a lot of people say they are tuning out the NFL. The NFL through its Commissioner has taken a side in the controversy. If, and only if people stop going to games and the revenue stream starts to shrink will this multi-billion dollar enterprise feel any ripple effect. I haven’t gone to a live NFL game in years, so whether I watch on TV or not will likely have no impact, especially since I’m not one of the Nielson households that matter. I don’t personally put these players up on a pedestal and appreciate the athletes that they are, but if I want insightful commentary on any particular topic I will choose my sources carefully, not simply because they can play a sport. I’ll continue to watch TV shows and movies while not necessarily caring what political thoughts the actors have, because I’m more interested in their art then their politics. And I’ll continue to respect the flag when in public because it is the right thing to do. You want to take a knee, knock yourself out. I’ll just think to myself what an a…hole and then go about what I was doing. 

Finally, this issue should not be made about President Trump and his words on the subject. This controversy existed long before the President weighed in on it. I have actually heard people are unfriending others on social media if they find those who kneel to be disrespectful because they must be Trump people. Whether I am a fan of Trump or not has nothing to do with my view on kneeling for our National Anthem. And if I really want to look at who I respect, I will take the thousands of police officers who every day put their life on the line versus the stand up guys of the NFL who have found numerous ways to bring discredit to their own profession by their off the field activities. Just like any other profession, there are plenty of good guys in the NFL, but statistically they have a pretty high number of bad guys too.