Stories about national anthem protests are becoming ubiquitous. Whether sitting, kneeling, or raising their hands, more and more athletes are showing their disdain for police violence against blacks by refusing to embrace the traditional posture taken during the anthem. Here are some thoughts on the issue.
First of all, I mostly find this phenomenon to be annoying. Is it an important topic? Certainly! I don't want to draw away from that, but the news coverage and the attention-grabbing that have resulted are mostly just annoying. What's it really about, Colin? Are you genuinely protesting something or are you just mad you suck now that Harbaugh (#JimHarbaughforpresident) is gone?
Secondly, being free means you're allowed to protest injustice in non-treasonous, non-seditious ways. If you want to kneel and pray for our country during the anthem, go ahead. If you want to raise your fist to demonstrate anger, go ahead. Heck, if you want to put your shoes on the wrong feet to show that you think cops act like three-year-olds, be my guest. My thoughts on the matter shouldn't dictate your expression of frustration.
Thirdly, why the anthem? Does the anthem have anything to do with police brutality? I'm not sure it does. At a football game? I'm not sure that's the best place. I guess I get the "platform" argument, but I just don't think that would be my choice. If I were a famous football player, I would probably find off-the-field ways to work for the changes I desired. I would invest my resources and skills in groups that provide concrete opportunities to do good.
Fourthly, what good is it really doing? I mean, really? Are you trying to get laws passed against violence against minorities? They exist. Are you trying to make police brutality illegal? I'm pretty sure that's already a thing. Legally speaking, protesting an anthem at a football game means absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. Goose egg with a little bit of nil sprinkled in the middle. Police brutality exists. The videos we see on Facebook and Yahoo demonstrate this. To argue, however, that there is some sort of systemic conspiracy to brutalize blacks and that protesting this conspiracy will actually help is probably a little far-fetched. We're not dealing with a policy that needs changed. It is already illegal to shoot people who aren't posing a danger to the safety of the officers and/or civilians. What we're dealing with are individuals who are bad people--bad, violent cops who use their position of authority to satisfy their animalistic desires and public officials who won't hold them accountable even when sufficient evidence is found to prosecute. MLK fought for legislative changes. I don't know that there are any changes that can be made to overcome corrupt people in places of authority. We live in a day when "share this post" posts abound. People think that changing their profile picture actually means something! I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but words and emotions really don't do anything when it comes to black guys getting shot. Raising your fist at a football game may make you feel good and get you on ESPN, but it really accomplishes nothing.
So what do we do? How can we overcome police brutality, particularly against minorities (it happens to white guys, too)? Well, firstly, we need to stop making uninformed decisions about what really happened immediately after these situations occur. How many times do supplemental reports come out that show that the cops were actually justified in using lethal force? Actually, pretty often. Quit jumping to conclusions, people!
Secondly, public awareness and civil transparency are vital. Knowing your rights and respectfully insisting upon them can save your life. Demanding on fair trials for police officers is also vital, and that goes both ways. Those who were justified should be acquitted, obviously, and those who can be shown to have used excessive force must be punished.
Thirdly, we need to be balanced. There are racists in America, just like there are racists in every country. Some of those racists are cops. Some of those racist cops use excessive force. That does not mean that all cops (or even the majority) hate black people and are going to beat them up. We must avoid generalizations. You cannot fight discrimination with discrimination. Cops are not above the law and must be held to it, and I think most cops genuinely want to do that. For every bad cop there are probably five or ten good cops. Generating ill will towards police is not a productive solution. Instead, the goal should be to hold accountable those police officers who break the law.
Finally, there's nothing we can do to eliminate police brutality entirely. This is true for two reasons. 1) If we find ourselves in a police state, how do we police the police? If the people who are supposed to make sure the police are doing their job correctly won't do their job correctly, what are we supposed to do? That's depressing, I know, but it is what it is. 2) You can't change a man's heart. Only God can do that. There are plenty of policies, procedures, and tests that try to stop a racist with anger issues from getting a badge. There's no way to stop 100% of cases of police brutality, just like there's no way to stop 100% of crime. There will always be bad people out there, and no matter what we do, we can't keep all of them from gaining positions of authority. You can vote and legislate all you want, but, especially in a job as stressful and disenfranchising as police work, you're going to have the occasional loose cannon. That's not an excuse. It's a reality in a sinful world.
That's my two cents worth. Stand for anthem, if you want, or don't. It probably won't matter anyway.
First of all, I mostly find this phenomenon to be annoying. Is it an important topic? Certainly! I don't want to draw away from that, but the news coverage and the attention-grabbing that have resulted are mostly just annoying. What's it really about, Colin? Are you genuinely protesting something or are you just mad you suck now that Harbaugh (#JimHarbaughforpresident) is gone?
Secondly, being free means you're allowed to protest injustice in non-treasonous, non-seditious ways. If you want to kneel and pray for our country during the anthem, go ahead. If you want to raise your fist to demonstrate anger, go ahead. Heck, if you want to put your shoes on the wrong feet to show that you think cops act like three-year-olds, be my guest. My thoughts on the matter shouldn't dictate your expression of frustration.
Thirdly, why the anthem? Does the anthem have anything to do with police brutality? I'm not sure it does. At a football game? I'm not sure that's the best place. I guess I get the "platform" argument, but I just don't think that would be my choice. If I were a famous football player, I would probably find off-the-field ways to work for the changes I desired. I would invest my resources and skills in groups that provide concrete opportunities to do good.
Fourthly, what good is it really doing? I mean, really? Are you trying to get laws passed against violence against minorities? They exist. Are you trying to make police brutality illegal? I'm pretty sure that's already a thing. Legally speaking, protesting an anthem at a football game means absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. Goose egg with a little bit of nil sprinkled in the middle. Police brutality exists. The videos we see on Facebook and Yahoo demonstrate this. To argue, however, that there is some sort of systemic conspiracy to brutalize blacks and that protesting this conspiracy will actually help is probably a little far-fetched. We're not dealing with a policy that needs changed. It is already illegal to shoot people who aren't posing a danger to the safety of the officers and/or civilians. What we're dealing with are individuals who are bad people--bad, violent cops who use their position of authority to satisfy their animalistic desires and public officials who won't hold them accountable even when sufficient evidence is found to prosecute. MLK fought for legislative changes. I don't know that there are any changes that can be made to overcome corrupt people in places of authority. We live in a day when "share this post" posts abound. People think that changing their profile picture actually means something! I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but words and emotions really don't do anything when it comes to black guys getting shot. Raising your fist at a football game may make you feel good and get you on ESPN, but it really accomplishes nothing.
So what do we do? How can we overcome police brutality, particularly against minorities (it happens to white guys, too)? Well, firstly, we need to stop making uninformed decisions about what really happened immediately after these situations occur. How many times do supplemental reports come out that show that the cops were actually justified in using lethal force? Actually, pretty often. Quit jumping to conclusions, people!
Secondly, public awareness and civil transparency are vital. Knowing your rights and respectfully insisting upon them can save your life. Demanding on fair trials for police officers is also vital, and that goes both ways. Those who were justified should be acquitted, obviously, and those who can be shown to have used excessive force must be punished.
Thirdly, we need to be balanced. There are racists in America, just like there are racists in every country. Some of those racists are cops. Some of those racist cops use excessive force. That does not mean that all cops (or even the majority) hate black people and are going to beat them up. We must avoid generalizations. You cannot fight discrimination with discrimination. Cops are not above the law and must be held to it, and I think most cops genuinely want to do that. For every bad cop there are probably five or ten good cops. Generating ill will towards police is not a productive solution. Instead, the goal should be to hold accountable those police officers who break the law.
Finally, there's nothing we can do to eliminate police brutality entirely. This is true for two reasons. 1) If we find ourselves in a police state, how do we police the police? If the people who are supposed to make sure the police are doing their job correctly won't do their job correctly, what are we supposed to do? That's depressing, I know, but it is what it is. 2) You can't change a man's heart. Only God can do that. There are plenty of policies, procedures, and tests that try to stop a racist with anger issues from getting a badge. There's no way to stop 100% of cases of police brutality, just like there's no way to stop 100% of crime. There will always be bad people out there, and no matter what we do, we can't keep all of them from gaining positions of authority. You can vote and legislate all you want, but, especially in a job as stressful and disenfranchising as police work, you're going to have the occasional loose cannon. That's not an excuse. It's a reality in a sinful world.
That's my two cents worth. Stand for anthem, if you want, or don't. It probably won't matter anyway.
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