Taking a stand for taking a knee

Like it or not, the #takeaknee protest movement has gotten us all talking. Unfortunately much of that talking is past each other rather than with each other. I have seen every conceivable reaction from both sides of this issue in equal amounts on my social media feed this weekend.

I have seen at least a dozen news articles of veterans offended at the protest. I have seen at least a dozen news articles of veterans who support the protest. I have seen at least a dozen articles where NFL and NBA owners are against the protest. I have seen at least a dozen articles where NFL and NBA owners support their players protesting. I have seen dozens of people claiming it is anti-patriotic to protest by using their free speech rights. I have seen dozens of others claiming it is patriotic precisely because people are using their constitutional rights.

Since I think by writing, I wrote some thoughts about how I respond, and whether I stand or kneel. If these thoughts help you, great. If they don't, ignore them. 

As a chaplain and a sports announcer, I help lead the Pledge or National Anthem at least 50 times per year. I stand during the Pledge and the National Anthem because I believe that they symbolize a Nation that has the vision and capacity to create a society where EVERYONE has "liberty and justice for all" because all persons are "created equal" and are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness". I stand because it is a symbol of my prayer, and my commitment, to work together to build such a society.

But I also understand that our Nation falls short of fulfilling the high mark of these aspirations for many Americans. I am aware that many Americans do not experience full use of their birth rights as citizens. I know that many Americans are far more likely to experience prejudice, profiling, poverty, and exclusion than I am, simply because of their skin color; That even if we did the same crime, or no crime at all, it is much easier for them to get arrested, incarcerated, or even shot to death (with or without a weapon); That I and my family have experienced privilege for generations precisely because they and their families experienced exclusion. So for these American sisters and brothers, I can understand why, feeling let down by what our flag symbolizes, they would choose to kneel down, until we all rise up to live into the full meaning of our Pledge and our Declaration. 

So I will stand for our Flag and all the potential it represents, and I will keep standing until that potential is actualized in a society where everyone from every culture, every religion, every skin tone, every gender, every ability, has access to all the resources and opportunities they need for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I will stand for the right of my sisters and brothers to kneel, and keep kneeling, until they are treated with the same dignity and honor and worth that I experience. Given our history and the original sins of racism and slavery in our Nation, the only way we can come to realize the truth that all lives matter is to first realize that every black life matters.