Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. (photo: Unknown)
uring
the Olympics in Rio a couple of weeks ago, Army Reserve 2nd Lt. Sam
Kendricks was sprinting intently in the middle of his pole vaulting
attempt when he heard the national anthem playing. He immediately
dropped his pole and stood at attention, a spontaneous expression of
heartfelt patriotism that elicited more praise than his eventual bronze
medal. Last Thursday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick
chose not to stand with his teammates during the national
anthem.
To some, Kendricks embodies traditional all-American Forrest
Gump values of patriotism, while Kaepernick represents the entitled
brattish behavior of a wealthy athlete ungrateful to a country that has
given him so much.
In truth, both men, in their own ways, behaved in a highly patriotic manner that should make all Americans proud.
The discussion of the nuances of patriotism is
especially important right now, with Trump and Clinton supporters each
righteously claiming ownership of the “most patriotic” label. Patriotism
isn’t just getting teary-eyed on the Fourth of July or choked up at war
memorials. It’s supporting what the Fourth of July celebrates and what
those war memorials commemorate: the U.S. Constitution’s insistence that
all people should have the same rights and opportunities and that it is
the obligation of the government to make that happen. When the
government fails in those obligations, it is the responsibility of
patriots to speak up and remind them of their duty.
One of the ironies of the way some people express
their patriotism is to brag about our freedoms, especially freedom of
speech, but then brand as unpatriotic those who exercise this freedom to
express dissatisfaction with the government’s record in upholding the
Constitution. Colin Kaepernick explained
why he will not stand during the national anthem: “There are a lot of
things that are going on that are unjust [that] people aren’t being held
accountable for. And that’s something that needs to change. That’s
something that this country stands for — freedom, liberty, justice for
all. And it’s not happening for all right now.”
What makes an act truly patriotic and not just
lip-service is when it involves personal risk or sacrifice. Both
Kendricks and Kaepernick chose to express their patriotism publicly
because they felt that inspiring others was more important than the
personal cost. Yes, Kendricks is a world-record pole-vaulter, but every
athlete knows that breaking focus and concentration during a
high-pressure competition can be devastating to the athlete’s
performance. The Olympics was filled with favorites who faltered because
of loss of focus. Halting his run in order to honor the national anthem
could have cost Kendricks his medal. He was willing to take that
chance.
Likewise, Kaepernick’s choice not to stand during the
national anthem could create a public backlash that might cost him
millions in future endorsements and affect his value as a player on his
team, reducing salary earnings or even jeopardizing his job. If team
ticket sales seriously dipped as a result, he would pay for his stance.
We should admire those who risk personal gain in the
service of promoting the values of their country. Both athletes are in
fine company of others who have shown their patriotism in unconventional
ways. In 1989, when a federal law prohibiting flag desecration went
into effect, Vietnam Veterans burned the American flag as a protest to a
law curbing the First Amendment. Their argument was that they fought
for the freedoms in the Constitution, not a piece of cloth, and to
curtail those freedoms was an insult to their sacrifice. Ironically, the
original purpose
of flag desecration laws between 1897 and 1932 wasn’t to prevent
political dissent, but to prevent the use of flag imagery for political
campaigns and in advertising.
One sign of the maturation of American society is the
willingness of those in the public eye, especially athletes, to openly
take a political stand, even if it could harm their careers. The modern
era of athletes speaking out began in 1966 with Muhammad Ali refusing to
be drafted to fight other people of color. In 1967, I joined with
football great Jim Brown, basketball legend Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali
and other prominent athletes for what was dubbed “The Cleveland Summit.”
Together we tried to find ways to help Ali fight for his right of
political expression. I don’t know how much we were able to accomplish
on a practical level, but seeing black athletes in support of Ali
inspired others to speak out. The following year at the 1968 Olympics,
African Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists during
the medal ceremony as a protest to the treatment of people of color in
the United States. In 2014, NBA players LeBron James, Kyrie Irving,
Jarrett Jack, Alan Anderson, Deron Williams and Kevin Garnett and NFL
players from the Rams and Browns wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts during
warm-ups for a game to protest police killings of unarmed blacks.
What should horrify Americans is not Kaepernick’s
choice to remain seated during the national anthem, but that nearly 50
years after Ali was banned from boxing for his stance and Tommie Smith
and John Carlos’s raised fists caused public ostracization and numerous
death threats, we still need to call attention to the same racial
inequities. Failure to fix this problem is what’s really un-American
here.
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