By David Stanczak
The issues involved in the NFL kneeling-for-the-Anthem flap have attained all the orderliness of a plate of spaghetti, having become so muddled that there probably as many reasons any players do what they do and fans react the way they do as there are players and fans. I suggest that a start to a way out of the spaghetti involves discussion of two matters which have become intertwined: the First Amendment and divisiveness.
Did Colin Kaepernick have a First Amendment right to take a knee? Of course he did, but the First Amendment is irrelevant to all the sound and fury he has spawned. If some governmental entity were trying to order him not to take a knee or punish him for doing so, any such order or punishment would be so unconstitutional that no one with any understanding of the Constitution would argue otherwise. But the NFL and its owners are not governmental entities, nor are the fans. They are free to react in any way they wish to the knee. And they have. The Constitution protects the players’ right to take a knee from interference by any governmental entity. It does not protect them, having done so, from any owners or fans who take umbrage. By-the-way, President Trump’s comment that the owners should fire any SOB’s who take a knee does not constitute government action. It was merely Trump being Trumply rather than presidential.
Divisiveness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. To me, divisiveness is any statement or action that, because of its content or way in which it is delivered, provokes people to react emotionally, and differently, to it. By that standard, taking the knee was, and is, divisive. The action is taken at a football game, at a time when a crowd is paying attention. For any members of the crowd who agree with whatever reasons are advanced for the action, it may be fine. For others, the knee is not just a statement, but an in-your-face statement. As such, it invites not only a reaction, but potentially a strong one from anyone who disagrees with it. The strength of the reaction is exacerbated by the fact that the fan paid probably quite a bit of money to attend a football game, not a civil liberties seminar, and may have paid all that money in part to get away from politics and daily life for a few hours, and enjoy a sports event.
A lot of people, myself included, are peeved, not at the intent of any player who took a knee, but his choice of forum. What he did was take his non-work-related views to his job, state them on the job as an employee (thereby inviting speculation as to how many in his team, its front office, and the league agreed with him), and appropriate his employer’s workplace to inject his message upon a captive audience of teammates, coaches, owners, attendees and tv viewers. He is free to express his view in person or via media, in innumerable other ways that don’t involve holding an audience hostage. If you don’t like it, you can click out of a tweet, or this message; not so much the stadium you’re in.
As of this writing, some owners have threatened to bench or fire players who take a knee, the players’ union is getting involved, the NFL Commissioner has sent a letter to the owners, asking for a meeting or meetings, sounding like he wants players to stand, but not ordering it, and players devising singly or in numbers alternate ways to say whatever they are trying to say. In the meantime, viewership is dropping, and I suspect that more than one Super Bowl party may be cancelled due to lack of interest. Was the President’s comment divisive? Of course it was, but, in my opinion, it was of a lower order because he was merely taking the bait that others had set out.
Divisive may be defined in many ways, but the actuality of the current situation defines it more eloquently than any words.
David Stanczak, a WJBC commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Voices are solely those of the author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media Inc.
