Standing during the US National Anthem?

[Phoenix]

Well, in such a scenario I would imagine not standing for the anthem would be criminal (a nationalist demand I'd like to think we're far from, but some days I wonder).

But yes, I agree. I've heard folks complaining about the protests say that they wouldn't have a problem with someone kneeling for the anthem if the cause was better care of veterans. Ravens players in Baltimore were booed today for kneeling before the anthem singers were even announced.

For those people, the conversation is making them uncomfortable. Acknowledging the inequities is making them uncomfortable. That's precisely what the protest was meant to do.

[Dulcet]

Colin Kapernick actually met with an army veteran over the summer and the two sides came up with kneeling instead of sitting. The solution was meant to show unity from both sides, not just one. Kneeling is what soldiers do at a funeral when presenting the flag to a loved one.

So all the stuff about disrespect to military is silly.

[Phoenix]

I've been reading about the other side of it lately, and the polling suggests it's mostly an opinion held by older folks. My mother would be one of them. Unfortunately, the polls also say that support for protests in the US during the anthem is a slightly minority opnion.

There's something else at play here too, and I think this is an interesting read on a possibility:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/football-is-the-culture-war/541464/

 

Edited October 2, 2017 by Phoenix