Protest

I really don’t want to get too political here, but I am getting pretty tired of people deciding that what NFL players are doing is disrespectful of the flag and veterans. This was never about disrespecting the flag. These people are doing what they are doing in order to draw attention to something that is important to them, to the fact that people of color are literally being shot down in the streets, and we, as a country, are not doing much about it. Now, you have a right to disagree with what they are protesting, and how they are doing it, but you do not have the right to tell them how to protest, or if they should protest. They are not disrupting the game, they are not saying anything disrespectful of the flag or our veterans; they are calling attention to something that they see needs to be changed.

It really does seem to be that some people do not think that others have a right to protest at all. If you are doing well, and you are white, then how well you are doing is all on you – aren’t you great. But if you are a person of color, then you should be grateful that you have been allowed to do well, and you should sit down and shut up – you are not allowed to protest.

Well – I call BS on that way of thinking. We all have a right and a duty to protest things that we see as not right. It should not matter if you are rich or poor or somewhere between, you are allowed to peacefully protest what you think needs protesting. No one else, including me, has a right to stop you. I can agree or disagree with you – that is my right. But it is not up to me to give you the right to protest – I believe that was done by the Constitution, which, for now at least, is still the law of the land.

If you really care about the flag being disrespected, perhaps you should be targeting the people who wear the flag, or use it in their advertising, both of which are not good, according to the flag code. By the way, the flag code is a bunch of suggestions on what to do, or not do, to respect our flag; it is not law and going against it is not punishable by law.