Sometimes it feels like patriotism has replaced organized religion as a means of controlling and influencing the public. The virtue of the various arms of American muscle—athletic, economic, diplomatic, military, etc.—is presented as something that is to be accepted completely and without scrutiny as the One Truth all Americans must believe in, or else they don't believe in the virtue of America at all. That an abstraction like a "country" can be infallibly virtuous—let alone a country born of treason—is arguably shaky as far as premises go,but we do believe in it. We believe in it so strongly that people lost their goddamned minds when a football player chose not to stand up during a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" before a preseason NFL game.The picture that launched 1000+ conversations. If used please credit @jenniferleechan Jennifer Lee Chan / SB Nation. pic.twitter.com/eIqagtTlSc
— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) August 29, 2016
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Video of @CoachJim4UM saying he doesn't respect Kap's motivation which are racial equality & end of police brutality pic.twitter.com/5eTPkiajaD
— BlackSportsOnline (@BSO) August 29, 2016
He "acknowledged his right to do that," but did not respect the motivation, or the action itself. He tried to be nuanced, he tried to "acknowledge" a fundamental American right, which was nice of him, but then … he couldn't. Colin Kaepernick has the right to protest police brutality by sitting during the national anthem, but he just can't go all willy-nilly and protest police brutality by sitting during the national anthem. That is what Jim Harbaugh said, even after having the opportunity to rethink his words. The notion of mindful, civil protest involving a long-manipulated patriotic symbol has become so fraught, so taboo that it makes intelligent men directly contradict themselves in one sentence.This is a symptom of a larger problem: our society does not value thoughtfulness, and that is very much reflected in the sports world. Of course we couldn't manage a thoughtful response to Kaepernick's protest. Our version of thoughtfulness in the sports media landscape is to observe that Kornheiser and Wilbon are more thoughtful than Whitlock and Cowherd. Football Man Jim Harbaugh might "support Colin's motivation" but he does not want to be labeled unpatriotic, so he can't support what everyone considers Kaepernick's blatant disrespect. Far easier to align oneself with what is most palatable, and dismiss everything else out of pocket. You're either with us or against us. In such a climate, there is little room for those who point out the fatal flaws in an institution—or a country—and imagine its betterment. That's why seemingly everyone in the sports world has a problem with what Kaepernick did; It was doomed from the start because of this widespread inability or unwillingness to understand the opposing view.I apologize for misspeaking my true sentiments. To clarify, I support Colin's motivation. It's his method of action that I take exception to
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) August 29, 2016