Right-wing demagogues are using NFL protests for political advantage

When the stadium announcer says, “Please rise for the national anthem,” most people do. They stand, some with their hands over their hearts, in a gesture of patriotism.

Most do, but not all. Unless the featured singer is someone with the talent of Beyoncé, some fans make a dash for the restroom or for a beer, while others check their smartphones. As for the millions of sports fans watching at home, the odds are probably greater that they’re filling a bowl with Cheetos than standing respectfully in their dens and living rooms.

That’s how it always was before NFL players “taking a knee” against racial inequality became controversial. Now, what NFL players do — or don’t do — during the national anthem has become a national obsession, despite the fact we’re dealing with natural disasters, an unresolved crisis in health care and an increasingly dangerous game of brinkmanship with North Korea.

Of course, taking a knee to protest police brutality has no more to do with the flag than Rosa Parks taking a front bus seat had to do with transportation, as CNN’s Don Lemmon put it. The illogic of the debate would seem to make it easy to dismiss.

Nonetheless, conservatives have succeeded in framing a protest against racial inequality and police brutality as an attack on patriotism — and that message has widespread appeal, especially to those who see mostly black players choosing this form of demonstration.

Here’s House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., twisting peaceful demonstration into something darker: “People see it as protesting against the people who have given their lives for this country and the ideals we all strive for to make a more perfect union.”

This obvious mischaracterization has unfortunately taken hold.

On Sept. 29, a CBS poll revealed Americans disapproved of the NFL national protests by 52 to 38 percent.

The argument against the NFL demonstrations from conservative pundits is see-through silly. Most of it relies on false equivalencies. Consider these preposterous comparisons from Right Wisconsin:

“What if we all decided to just offer our opinions at completely inappropriate times? Let’s say you’re a pallbearer at a funeral and you decide to take a knee to protest underpaid coffee growers? Or it’s your child’s music recital and you decide at that moment you’re deeply concerned about the shrinking rain forest so you start yelling?”

Those examples, of course, involve disruptive protests at “completely inappropriate times.” The group is clearly suggesting that silently — and briefly — reminding America of its problems is completely inappropriate. The protesters contend there’s nothing more patriotic than exercising the freedom that our flag represents while singing the national anthem.

Far from dishonoring the military, the protesters are doing the very thing that servicemembers have fought — and died — to respect.

Marie Tillman, the widow of war hero Pat Tillman, put it most convincingly. Tillman quit the NFL and joined the military in the wake of 9/11.

“Those that serve fight for the American ideals of freedom, justice and democracy,” she wrote. “They and their families know the cost of that fight. I know the very personal costs in a way I feel acutely every day. 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.”

Nevertheless, conservatives have taken the “unpatriotic” ball and run with it.

Taking a knee

The NFL demonstrations illustrate how easily a story can be twisted and reframed.

The story began last year when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was seen in a photograph sitting on the bench during the playing of the national anthem before a 2016 preseason game. His goal was to show support for black Americans oppressed by police officers, images of which saturated the media at the time.

Then Kaepernick started “taking a knee” before the anthem, a position he considered more appropriate. Taking a knee is reminiscent of when a quarterback kneels on one knee after receiving the snap to end a play. But outside of football, kneeling has historically been a gesture of respect or even reverence.

“I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard, and effect change,” Kaepernick said at the time. “So I’m in the position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t.”

Other NFL players began joining Kaepernick during the 2016 season, as did high-school players, athletes in other sports and even national anthem singers.

The movement more or less sputtered along for the rest of last season. Player demonstrations were scant and met with decreasing sensation, although right-wing media invoked them now and again in a likely appeal to its white, conservative audience.

Kaepernick’s quiet protest — you had to intentionally look for it to see it — ultimately cost him his job. No team picked him up for the current season, and most of his fellow players agree it was due to his beliefs and not his athletic skill.

“I think he should be on a roster right now,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently told ESPN. “I think because of his protests, he’s not.”

Trump criticizes NFL and the league fights back

The “take a knee” movement lurched into warp drive this season when Donald Trump began hyperventilating about it, utilizing the “unpatriotic” reframing rampant among his supporters.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” Trump suddenly raved during a campaign appearance in Alabama on Sept. 22.

After that, everyone in the NFL universe began issuing statements and tweets. NFL owners, coaches and managers got involved, although it was often unclear whether they were siding with the protesters, showing team unity or acknowledging their right to free expression.

But certainly they were reacting to Trump’s attack on their game more than the protests. During the same speech in Alabama when he called NFL players SOBs, he ridiculed attempts by team owners to reduce an epidemic of players suffering brain damage from concussion trauma. He said the efforts to make the sport safer had spoiled all the fun.

Soon teams began staging a variety of protests before games. As The Washington Post put it, “What had been a small, scattered movement turned into a national spectacle as dozens of players knelt to defy Trump on game day, followed by days of caustic national argument.”

Before a Sept. 28 game against the Chicago Bears, Rodgers asked fans to join with his team in locking arms during the anthem.

“This is about equality,” Rodgers told the press. “This is about unity and love and growing together as a society, and starting a conversation around something that may be a little bit uncomfortable for people. But we’ve got to come together and talk about these things and grow as a community, as a connected group of individuals in our society, and we’re going to continue to show love and unity.”

On the opposite end of the field, the Bears mirrored the action.

Although Rodgers had emphasized that the decision to lock arms had nothing to do with the national anthem, the military or patriotism, Packers fans largely rejected the approach. Some even protested the team’s decision outside Lambeau Field.

But fan criticism was directed toward Trump as well.

More from this section

Former agriculture secretary finds job at Department of Administration

Key Takeaways from Armstrong & Associates' 3PL Value Creation North America Summit

Assembly to take up hemp regulation, Bible Week resolution in Tuesday session

The same CBS poll that revealed that 52 percent of Americans disapproved of the NFL demonstrations also showed a 48 to 38 percent plurality disapproved of Trump’s NFL comments.

Before the Oct. 1 roster of NFL games, Trump tweeted, “Very important that NFL players STAND tomorrow, and always, for the playing of our National Anthem. Respect our Flag and our Country!”

Whether in response or by coincidence, one week after 250 NFL players knelt or linked arms during the national anthem, the Oct. 1 demonstrations were more restrained and more creative.

The 49ers, who started it all, formed two lines before their game against the Arizona Cardinals. The players in the front kneeled, while those in the back stood, setting off a round of boos at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Many of the standing players placed one hand on their heart, the other on the shoulder of a kneeling teammate in a sign of solidarity.

Players from four other teams took a knee — or remained in the locker room. Three teams knelt before the anthem, and the players from six more teams linked arms.

The protests have grown more widespread. In the aftermath of Trump’s insults, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson, D-Texas, took a knee on the floor of Congress, followed a day later by Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin.

The silent demonstrations are not over — and, one suspects, neither are Trump’s fulminating mischaracterizations of them.

Whether his vitriol and that of right-wing pundits will stoke yet more racism at a time when it’s already on the rise is something that should concern us all.

‘Paid patriotism’

Many fans may assume “patriotic” displays during games — the singing of the anthem, color guards, and Jumbotron testimonials featuring veterans and combat heroes — were arranged by the team.

But prior to last year, those displays were largely paid for with tax dollars. In November 2015, a report prepared at the behest of U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona found the Pentagon spent $53 million on marketing and advertising arrangements with college and professional sports organizations from 2012 to 2015. Their goal was recruitment.

Titled “Tackling Paid Patriotism: A Joint Oversight Report,” the report found the Milwaukee Brewers and the Green Bay Packers benefited from Department of Defense funding. In 2012 and 2014, the Packers received $200,000 for:

• An opportunity to perform a pregame on-field activity or ceremony.
• One pregame MVP party deck package for 200 Wisconsin Army National Guard soldiers and their families that included food, beverages and a gift.
• One co-branded promotional item.
• On-field halftime entertainment with TundraVision video board coordination.

Following the report, the Department of Defense banned what it called “paid patriotism” and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ordered an audit of all club contracts and a refund of inappropriate payments.

Our difficult national anthem

One thing we know for certain about the playing of the national anthem at sports events is that few people sing along, even if their lips appear to be moving. “The Star Spangled Banner” has a challenging melody that spans nearly an octave and a half — beyond singing range for most untrained voices.

The lyrics are written in an archaic style and are difficult to understand. Surveys have shown that only about 40 percent of U.S. citizens claim to know the words but most of those people can’t actually get past “whose broad stripes and bright stars.”

Since the lyrics are so poorly known, it’s likely that, appearances aside, the people standing around you at Lambeau Field, Miller Park or elsewhere have not been paying rapt attention to our national anthem.