It's hard to imagine a more appropriate form of civil resistance than a professional football player taking a knee during the national anthem (in protest over racial injustice in our country). It's nonviolent. No one is threatened. No cars are overturned. No windows are broken. No property is damaged. No flag is burned. No hostile words are spoken. No traffic is blocked. And no one is the slightest bit inconvenienced. It's a silent, peaceful, powerful message that reaches wide audiences. It's not an attack on our military; rather, it's a noble expression of the freedom for which our military fights.
In North Korea, something like that would be met with harsh punishment. But in the United States of America, we cherish our freedom of speech and expression. The First Amendment is so important to our country that we literally give permits to Nazi scumbags to march in Jewish neighborhoods. Quietly kneeling in a football game is obviously constitutionally protected from government suppression.
For the President of the United States to call a black athlete a "son of a bitch" for engaging in non-violent political protest is deplorable. For him to demand that billionaire NFL franchise owners fire black athletes who engage in constitutionally protected activity is revolting. That is what totalitarian dictators do. It is far more un-American than a player taking a knee during the national anthem. It's not even a close call.
In the 1968 Olympics, American track medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists in the air on the podium (during the national anthem) in protest of racial discrimination in the United States. They received death threats for this and widespread condemnation from white people. But we look back at the iconic image of them as a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. They are now considered heroes in the struggle for social justice. Hindsight is 20/20.
When the greatest boxer of all time, Cassius Marcellus Clay, changed his "slave name" to Cassius X (and, later, Muhammad Ali) and became a passionate civil rights activist, he received death threats. In the late 1960s, because he refused to fight for our country in Vietnam, he was stripped of his title and not allowed to fight for four years in the prime of his career. White people overwhelmingly love him now, but most of us hated him back then: he was viewed as an unpatriotic traitor. Hindsight is 20/20.
History repeats itself. Here we are now, in 2017. Colin Kaepernick is out of a job because he silently knelt during the national anthem before an NFL game. He's not the best QB in the league. But if he did not engage in that simple act of civil disobedience, he'd be on an NFL roster today. He didn’t just lose his job. People burned his jersey and called him a traitor. And like other black athletes who protested for civil rights before him, he gets death threats from so-called patriotic Americans. Numerous other black athletes are now following his lead, particularly in the wake of Trump’s divisive comments, and they, too, are being viewed as unpatriotic by many white people.
But it is not these athletes who are disrespecting our flag and the sacrifice of our veterans—it is Donald Trump. By attacking them for taking a peaceful stand against racial injustice, he is defaming the constitutional freedoms for which our fallen soldiers fought. This is the same man who said that there were "fine people" on "both sides" in Charlottesville. He has harsher words for Colin Kaepernick than he does for torch-carrying white supremacists chanting, "Jews will not replace us." It's shameful. And we should not stoop to his level and attack those who are trying to send us an important and peaceful message about of the senseless loss of black lives in America: Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Jordan Edwards, Laquan McDonald, and Sandra Bland, to name a few among countless others.
It would be so great if white citizens would, for once in our nation's history, join the fight as it's happening. Instead of waiting decades to revisit history, let's battle alongside these black athletes now. In fact, here's an idea: How about we white people consider why these athletes are kneeling? Instead of ginning up outrage in the name of flag-waiving patriotism, maybe we should try to examine the message they are trying to send. And if it's a message with which we agree, maybe we should join the fight. Hindsight is 20/20, but the truth is often visible in the moment.
Lady Justice wears a blindfold, but justice isn’t blind. As a civil rights attorney, I can think of countless examples of racial injustice in our criminal justice system. Rather than ignore the problem, I believe we need to acknowledge it, take it on, and fix it. And I support every athlete in every sport at every level who takes a knee to bring this issue to light. Until it is accepted and addressed, I'm kneeling with them in spirit—in the hope that, one day, the words “with liberty and justice for all” will mean more than just an empty pledge.