To Kneel or Not to Kneel?

Social Media and America is ablaze with the controversy about Colin Kaepernick, a NFL player, kneeling during the playing of the American national anthem. The emotion this has evoked got President Donald Trump involved, calling players who kneel, which he considered a disrespect to the anthem, 'sons of bitches'. If Kaepernick used a sports event as a political platform to protest police brutality, Mr Trump elevated it into a hysterical litmus test of whether you are a patriot or a traitor.

Now that Nike having endorsed Kaepernick, who is shunned by all NFL teams, the debate enters the broader realm of corporate conscious. The result is that it divides people just as much as the act of kneeling did, with some jingoistic burning of Nike shoes. Sadly we forget that Kaepernick first protested 21 months back by simply sitting on the bench during the national anthem. Then after consulting some war veterans he felt kneeling while showing respect would still highlight his protest. I suspect no one would have made a big deal about it had Mr Trump not jumped in with his remarks.

Tim Tebow, another famous NFL player used to also kneel, in prayer we may add, while having various verses from the Bible written on his attire and it was known he was a devout Christian and often spoke against abortion. While he did not kneel during the anthem he always did so after the anthem and it coined a term called 'tebowing'. Kaepernick, much like Tebow sees kneeling as a respectful gesture and why should it not be.

Kneeling in most cultures and history is seen as a sign of submission and respect. You kneel in front of the King/Queen, you kneel when you pray, you kneel when you ask a woman for her hand in marriage, so when did kneeling suddenly become a disrespectful act? I guess since Donald Trump, a man who hardly reads and has no sense of history, declared it disrespectful. His base of supporters, perhaps equally devoid of a sense of history equate kneeling to the national anthem as being disrespectful. Men and women have knelt before flags for ages, its an act of deep respect and submission to what the flag stands for, so why is kneeling during the national anthem suddenly so offensive.

I have watched a number of NFL games and when people are quick to criticize Colin Kaepernick as being disrespectful they should look in the stands. People are buying pop corn, drinks, walking around, talking to each other and some even sitting on their seats during the playing of the national anthem! Is that not disrespectful?  How many of these people burning their Nike shoes sit in their homes talking, eating and drinking during the national anthem. So let us not become so sanctimonious all of a sudden and condemn Kaepernick, or others, for an act which is misunderstood in the first place.

This false sense of patriotism, or the lack of it, is being injected into the American political fabric for the wrong reasons and for motives that have nothing to do with disrespect. If one cannot understand that and still want to burn their Nikes or Ford trucks or whatever then you have simply become the tool of an ignorant mass of people who are being worked up on what is perhaps the most humbling and submitting act, kneeling during your National Anthem, in front of your flag and in front of God.