When Should I Protest???

By sitting & kneeling during the national anthem Colin Kapernick took a strong stand against racial injustice that has exposed America for not standing for what it claims the flag & anthem represents when it comes to Black People. If Colin Kaepernick didn't sit or kneel for the national anthem there would be no discussion at all about racial injustice, and things would continue as they have been with no justice or progress. In truth, we still haven't progressed or gotten justice, but Colin's stance has at least made many more uncomfortably aware of the issues. It is unfortunate that there is more emphasis on disrespect for the flag or the national anthem than the continual disrespect of Black People in America; which is why the protests were started.

If your first thought is, "They're disrespecting the flag" over "We're disrespecting our citizens", then you represent the reasons why we need to protest. Protests, and often times even riots, are the expressions of the ignored against the indifferent and those who oppress them. How dare anyone tell the oppressed or abused when to protest! You don't tell rape or physical abuse victims when to scream for help, and America has been abusing Black people way too long. Protests aren't matters of convenience but of attention & disruption because of the inconvenience of injustice. Protesting during the anthem should make Americans question themselves as to whether or not they represent what the flag & anthem are suppose to reflect of us if others feel this strongly. 

These protests have never been about disrespecting the flag or anthem, nor about U.S. servicemen & women or police officers & first responders, but this is the lie America keeps telling itself to ignore the real reasons why. It's a shame that people falsely accuse Black folks of loudly crying "victim hood" and ignore them being actual "victims in the hood" of our nation; which is what the protests are actually about. What has "the flag" actually done for anyone? It is a meaningless tapestry without us. Neither the flag nor the anthem has power to change anything but "We the people" do. They are symbols of who we're suppose to be as a nation, but folks have made them idols while forgetting they mean nothing without us practicing the principles that give them credibility.

It is hypocrisy of no small measure to claim patriotism while practicing indifference and ignoring racism. The flag is suppose to represent us, not be practically worshipped by us. If the people aren't honorable then the flag isn't worthy of honor, and we need to sincerely examine ourselves as a nation, repent of our wrongs, and make things right so everyone will feel proud to stand for the anthem or salute our flag because we practice what we preach. Asking folks who are still being oppressed & brutalized without equal & fair treatment is asking them to participate in a convenient lie because we reject the inconvenient truth. Don't ask me to stand for a flag and an anthem when you won't stand for me to have what they're suppose to represent.

If it's more important for the flag or anthem to be respected than for people to be respected and treated fairly in America then to hell with the flag, the anthem, and the Constitution because they represent contradictions to the principles for which we stand. There is no "one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all", but just a nation under the control of one particular ethnic racial majority who has never been oppressed, enslaved, or displaced but have done so to others and refuse to acknowledge the continuation of it in different ways while enjoying their privilege from it. Don't ask others to change so you can stay the same. 

An easy solution to stopping these anthem protests in sports is to take the anthem out of sports. Long before Colin Kaepernick networks often turned from the anthem to commercial, and on major boxing cards it isn't even sung until the main event. I guess the other boxers don't deserve or rate the anthem for their fight? What necessity is there for the anthem to be sung or the flag honored at a sporting event more than at a national Presidential address? Where are the singers then?

Why are we making this tradition mandatory for sporting events that are recreational and optional? Why are team owners, coaches, schools, and leagues compromising the Constitutional rights of athletes to force them to stand for the flag and national anthem? It's a hostile response to a righteous protest. So, the response against lawful & peaceful protests against national injustice is the injustice of institutional bullying? These are the actions of hypocrites & liars, not Americans or patriots.

This so called national tradition has become a cult within itself for which America has lost sight of why or how it even began and what it should represent. We don't seem to put real emphasis on the moment until there's an attack on America or when someone challenges it with a movement that exposes the hypocrisy of our democracy, and then we vilify that individual for exercising the very rights for which the flag & anthem are suppose to represent. Shame on America. So, when should I protest? When is the right time to protest against racial injustice or national injustice of any kind? It is the right time when everyone else says it's the wrong time, because it exposes how wrong we are. ~ Mr. Blaktastic