Overshadowed Issues

On October 7, 2016, the New York Times, et al, reported that James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, and Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, formally accused the Russian government of attempting to "interfere with the U.S. election process.” That same day, a video was released in which presidential candidate Donald Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women.  Of the two, the video garnered most of the press and my Facebook newsfeed.

This week, hurricane Maria has completely devastated Puerto Rico, and North Korea, a country that has been actively testing nuclear weapons, has declared that they believe that the US has declared war on them, which gives them the right to shoot down our military planes, whether they are in North Korean airspace or not.  However, the President of the Electoral College and my Facebook feed are completely preoccupied by football players who are protesting while black.

I can't express an opinion on this subject any better than Jim Wright did in his blog Stonekettle Station a year ago (and I hope you will click on this link and read it in full,) but I do have some observations just based on the things people have been posting on Facebook.

To begin with, there seems to be the yuge misconception that the players are protesting the National Anthem (or the flag, or the military, or whatever.)  This, to me, is an exasperating display of ignorance.  As one meme put it, "Thinking NFL players are "protesting the flag" is like thinking Rosa Parks was protesting public transportation."  Another recurring theme is the replacement of the word "uppity" with the word "ungrateful."

Eric Reid, who was the first to join Colin  Kaepernick in the protest movement, said in an editorial in the New York Times,

"It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest. 

It should go without saying that I love my country and I’m proud to be an American. But, to quote James Baldwin, “exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” 

I believe that most of the opposition to the protests comes simply from an ignorance of the data.  We've all heard the names: Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and others, and a lot of people have opinions about what may or may not have happened in each of these cases.  But there is more to what's going on than just the names we hear in the news.
    In 2015, police killed 1,134 people. The rate of deaths for young black men was 5 times that of similarly aged whites, 9 times that of all other Americans, and 15% of the total. Blacks in general were killed at twice the rate of other racial and ethnic groups. 25% of them were unarmed, compared to 17% of whites.   The rate of nonfatal injuries to black people by law enforcement is over three times higher than that of white people.  Black defendants are 38% more likely to receive the death penalty than similarly situated defendants of other races.  Furthermore, although the usage rates of illegal drugs is about the same among all demographics, black people comprise 31 percent of those arrested for drug law violations, and nearly 40 percent of those incarcerated in state or federal prison for drug law violations while only making up 13% of the population. (Latinos have similar statistics.) Prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence for black people as for white people charged with the same offense.  (These statistics are available from various source online, but Richard C. Deiter did a thorough study on this in 1998.)

Any discussion of NFL players' protests that does not include a discussion of the above is not worth having.  Any opinion about the protests that does not consider the above is worthless.

Kudos to the coaches and team owners who have stood up for their players Fist Amendment rights.

" We strongly believe that players are leaders in our communities and positive influences. They have achieved their positions through tremendous work and dedication and should be celebrated for their success and positive impact. We believe it is important to support any of our players who choose to peacefully express themselves with the hope of change for good. As Americans, we are fortunate to be able to speak openly and freely."  Mark Murphy, Green Bay Packers President/CEO

In all that's going on, there is still a shot of humor in the situation.  Breitbart and other extreme right outlets have made an unwitting hero of Alejandro Villanueva of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who found himself out on the field alone during the playing of the National Anthem. His own account of the situation, however,  undercuts the narrative being presented, and highlights their failure to fact check.

But as his anthem appearance became the subject of heated debate on Monday, he spoke to reporters in Pittsburgh and said that he had inadvertently gotten separated from his team.

He said he had intended to stand at the end of the tunnel where no one would see him, and watch from there as the anthem was played. But once he realized he was visibly outside, he decided he could not turn around and go back to where his teammates were standing, a few feet inside the tunnel.

“Do you walk out of the national anthem and join your teammates?” Villanueva said. “That would have looked extremely bad.”...

A major regret for Villanueva was the fact that his actions made his teammates and his coach look bad as they scrambled to explain why he was the only player visible.

“Unfortunately, I threw them under the bus unintentionally,” he said. “Every single time I see that picture of me standing by myself, I feel embarrassed.” 

It's unfortunate that the original issue, the reason for the protest, has gotten clouded over by the method, but often this is the case.  The whole point of a protest is to highlight an issue that is important, and to draw attention to it from people who might not otherwise see it.  It's gratifying that so many are standing up for their right to be heard against those who would silence them, but let's hope that the support for the right to speak doesn't drown out what they're trying to say.