Instead of Fighting Over Who Stands, Kneels or Raises a Fist During the Anthem, Let’s Focus on Freedom and Justice For All
By Ken Reed
Across the country, from the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to Major League Baseball (MLB), sports fans have looked on as athletes have chosen to stand, kneel, or raise a fist during the playing of the national anthem.
Both the kneelers and standers have been attacked on social media in recent days.
Some people called for those that kneeled to immediately be released from their teams. Others told the kneelers to leave the country. NFL coaching legend Mike Ditka was in the latter group.
“If you can’t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country,” said Ditka.
Hey Mike, what about respecting the freedom of speech rights of fellow citizens? How about showing a little civility toward people who have opinions different than yours? Perhaps you’d prefer North Korea, where the people don’t have the freedom to kneel and silently protest during the national anthem?
On the other side of the anthem debate, some people attacked the athletes who chose to stand during the anthem, calling them racists. Racist for standing for the national anthem? Those comments are as ridiculous as Ditka’s comments.
People who wholeheartedly support racial justice, who are for police reform and the end of police brutality, who donate hours in their communities working to better the lives of the less fortunate, can also feel strongly about standing for the national anthem out of respect for military members in their families, or vets in general.
The abusive language going back and forth between those supporting the kneelers and those supporting the standers is sad to witness. All this vitriol has shown that the country, as a whole, has now officially become as divided and dysfunctional as Congress.
Here’s my overarching fear: I’m afraid we’re devolving into a country that only supports free speech for those we agree with. That’s a movement we need to turnaround.
Instead of spreading hate toward people we disagree with, we should be celebrating that we live in a country in which we are all free to share our thoughts in the marketplace of ideas and to make decisions like whether or not to stand for the national anthem. The American flag is a symbol of freedom, and whether an athlete, fan — or anyone else in this country — chooses to stand or kneel during the anthem, he/she is exercising one of the freedoms that our military men and women have fought for decades to preserve.
We need to get to the point as a country where we can debate issues in a respectful, civil manor. All of us, across the political spectrum, need to grow up and start acting like we’re mature enough to responsibly handle the freedoms we’ve been blessed with, most notably the freedom of speech.
Marie Tillman, the widow of former NFL player Pat Tillman, who gave up his football career to become an Army ranger and serve in Afghanistan (where he was killed by friendly fire), might have put it best:
“The very action of self expression and the freedom to speak from one’s heart — no matter those views — is what Pat and so many other Americans have given their lives for. Even if they didn’t always agree with those views.”
Exactly.
Nate Boyer, another military veteran, who advised Colin Kaepernick about the best way to peacefully protest during the anthem tweeted:
“I will continue to stand with pride when the Anthem is played. That doesn’t mean I’m ‘against’ or ‘don’t support’ the REASON others kneel. We can spend the rest of our lives debating whether sitting, kneeling, standing on your head is offensive or we can focus on fixing the WHY.”
Ah yes, the WHY. Instead of spending so much time and energy on who’s doing what during the anthem, or who’s a true patriot and who isn’t, how about we all focus on living up to the ideals represented in the American flag: freedom and justice for all.
Yes, freedom and justice for all: That’s the essence of what Colin Kaepernick said when asked four years ago why he started the kneeling protests.
“Our country stands for freedom, liberty, justice for all, and it’s not happening for all right now. … I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country,” said Kaepernick.
“I have family, I have friends that have gone away and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone. That’s not happening. People are dying in vain because this country isn’t holding their end of the bargain up, as far as giving freedom and justice, liberty to everybody. That’s something that’s not happening.”
Let’s stop the childish bickering and name calling. The WHY is certainly a helluva lot more important than what people choose to do during the playing of the national anthem.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman, and has a long involvement with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport (now called the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition). We discuss the state of college athletics today, given the pressures of NIL, the transfer portal, sports gambling and huge media contracts. McMillen then provides great perspective on the poor state of physical fitness our young people are experiencing today.
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Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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