Danger

 

I have an opinion about the NFL protests.

 

I’m having flashbacks to “Love it or Leave it”.  I thought that slogan had been left behind in the sixties, but now I’m hearing the same sentiment expressed as “If you don’t like our flag or country just get out.”  (If you haven’t heard that, just scroll through a few Facebook posts and then you will have.)

 

This is an awesome country, but we should recognize that it’s not the same for everyone.  The NFL players aren’t protesting our flag, our soldiers, or our national anthem.  They’re protesting apparent unequal treatment by law enforcement and court decisions.  They’ve never said it’s about anything else.  All that noise is other people trying to deflect the message into something they’d rather defend.  It doesn’t even matter if the protesters’ perception of unequal treatment is right or wrong, their concern and comment is constitutional.  The first amendment to our constitution guarantees:

 

“ ... freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.  It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government.”

 

If it makes us uncomfortable that NFL players choose to protest during the national anthem, that’s probably a good thing.  I don’t think protests are supposed to make us comfortable.

 

If we need a slogan to get through this, let’s recycle an old one with a slight revision.  How about

 

Love it and leave it even better than you found it!