Colin Kaepernick

KilgoreTrout

This isn't election-related, and I'm not sure if it's "world news" either, but people are talking about it a lot so I figured it might deserve a thread.

The most recent development I heard of was that other players were also deciding to protest by not standing during the anthem, and that a #boycottNFL hashtag was trending as result of that. One tweet I liked from it:

"I can think of 99 reasons to #boycottNFL but Colin Kaepernick ain't one."

Anyway, as you might expect I think he ought to be free to stand or not as he chooses, as should everybody else. “If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game,” as hockey coach John Tortorella said, is the wrong approach.

That said, while I admire what he's trying to accomplish, I don't know if it'll actually make a difference. I mean, widespread police brutality is something everybody's aware of by now, so I don't think he's likely to draw attention to anything people don't already know. Police are still gonna operate the same way, probably. Eventually the outrage from people who think that standing during the national anthem is a big deal will probably die down and they'll get used to seeing him not standing, and everything will be pretty much the same. (Although he IS donating the money from his jersey sales to good causes, so at the very least THAT will make a difference, I guess.)

glennmagusharvey

I made a Facebook post observing that as an American, he should respect the national anthem and stand when it is played.  However, as an American, he reserves the right to exercise free speech and disrespect the national anthem, and I will respect his decision to do so.

KilgoreTrout

I guess the way I see it is that standing for the anthem is an expression of pride for your country, and whether or not you stand for it should perhaps depend on whether or not you're proud of your country's actions and/or the state of things in your country.

Maybe it's because Canada is just different when it comes to how much patriotism is emphasized, but I really couldn't care less whether "O Canada" is played or not at any event, and if it were and somebody decided not to stand for it then it wouldn't bother me.

EDIT: But in any case, it does indeed come down to freedom of speech, and these days I've seen far too many people talking like the whole "I may not agree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it" idea is overrated.

glennmagusharvey

Personally, it doesn't affect me at all whether someone stands, sings, puts hand on heart, or does various other actions such as performing a jig, doing a handstand, or making explicit gestures.

If they were to burn a flag, I'd advise them to consider the economic cost and environmental impact of doing so, and please refrain from doing it.  But I'd make that same argument if they were burning a holofoil Charizard trading card.

Because, let's be honest, the national anthem doesn't feel insulted by your disrespect.  It doesn't feel proud at your respect.  It has no feelings on its own, because it is not a living creature, much less a sentient one.  Same goes with the flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance, and so on.

What these things are truly important as, is as symbols.  It's a indication to oneself -- as well as to the people around oneself -- that a certain thing carries a certain weight.  THAT is the true meaning.  It is an expression.

Yes, standing up and putting one's hand on heart is itself already an expression.  It should not be taken for granted.

If one is offended by someone not doing so because it "insults the troops" or whatever, one should consider that doing so in the first place also carries with it an expression of certain ideas -- and these are ideas that may differ from one person to another.