Taking the Knee
Taking the knee during the National Anthem is bad behavior. It is an affront to the men and women that have gone into harm's way to preserve and service the American way of life. Be it the military, peace corps, fire brigade or law enforcement.
A protest has its value. We as a nation of people pride ourselves on the right to assemble and protest too. That doesn't mean we always should. And when we do, it should have an effect of pressuring powers to make a change - in the right direction. Taking the knee is not the right venue, nor does it pressure power to change. If there is change it is negative - the wrong direction.
In fact, taking the knee drives a wedge between people. Where I was color blind, a supporter of equal rights for everyone, now I'm less so. I grow weary of all the rhetoric about how horrible I am because I'm white. The news feeds on negativity. It feeds on the few injustices that police affect on people of minority and ignores the tens of thousands of good men and women that put their lives on the line to protect and maintain order in our society. These athletics protesting in this manner makes me sad. Look at the irony of protesting a country and flag and it's national song that blood was shed for to give them the right to protest. Go to North Korea or China or Iran and try that.
I'm much more temperate in my response. I understand those that are more passionate about the taking the knee and give out death threats and take some physical action like tire slashing. They are wrong to do that. Yet, is protesting in such a manner supposed to widen the rift of racism or close it? If those that take the knee think it's going to make things better for them, narrow the divide between races; they are wrong. They have become part of the problem, not the solution.
Kids are not in school to protest. Public school is funded so they can learn skills and develop abilities that they can take to the world at large and not have to go on the public dole or have to live with mom and dad the rest of their lives. Sport is an extracurricular component that develops working as a team, like a group of programmers developing a new operating system. Or, it might be so the entertainment industry will have a well of sports metaphors to use in their programming. It has it value. The kids are in school to learn about protesting, not do it. Yet, a school like Garfield feeds on notoriety. So, what do they teach their kids? Seems it's thumb your nose at anything you don't like. I don't blame the kids. They are ignorant of patriotism, sacrifice, and selflessness. Their mentors and teachers do them no good service by letting them act out and support them in it.
"Thomas, a fit 37-year-old with an infectious grin, a charismatic command, and boyish charm, doesn’t have regrets."
He should have regrets because of the direction he and others are taking these kids one or more of them will accost the wrong people at the wrong time in the name of protest and get hurt or killed. Although it shouldn't be that way - when you spit in someone's eye a nose is going to get bent. Is taking the knee, protest, what you want your kids to have as their crowning achievement in life? If so, you are part of the problem too.
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