POV: Trump and the NFL
President’s playbook: to “gain by creating divisiveness in every corner of the world”
AP Photo by Michael Dwyer
I teach a course titled Sport Theory and Social Systems (i.e., sport sociology). We examine controversial issues such as doping, gender inequity, racism, violence, religion, and politics with the aim to reimagine how we might better utilize sport for good in our society. Last week we addressed President Trump’s remarks in Huntsville, Ala., on September 22, criticizing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the playing of the national anthem before football games last season. Trump charged that Kaepernick was disrespecting the flag, when, in fact, he was actually protesting police brutality and demonstrating solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement. In this oddly timed quarrel with Kaepernick, Trump directed NFL owners to fire anyone who does not stand during the national anthem.
To see Trump’s attack on Kaepernick as anything other than race-related is increasingly difficult. Go to any NFL stadium in the country and observe the scores and scores of mostly white patrons of these venues talking, buying hot dogs and beer, and going to the restroom during the playing of the national anthem. No one ever takes them to task for dishonoring veterans or the flag. But if one black player makes a silent but solemn protest, it is national news.
In class, we talked further about the debate that has circled around Kaepernick. Trump called on NFL owners to “fire that son of a bitch” for his protest, although ironically Kaepernick is not currently employed by an NFL team and is a free agent. One student noted that Trump was just creating a distraction from the recent failures and controversies of his administration. Another said that Trump’s comment had pushed NFL owners and players into a corner and goaded them into taking action in favor of the protest. Many Americans, including several NFL owners, originally supported Trump during his election campaign in part for his willingness to say what was on his mind. But every day, more and more Americans realize that what is on Donald Trump’s mind is not pretty. It seems to me his playbook is to gain by creating divisiveness in every corner of the world.
To fire someone for exercising their first amendment rights is unlawful and antidemocratic. But Trump has already shown his cards when it comes to the struggle people of color face with police brutality. On July 28 he casually and openly endorsed police brutality in a speech to law enforcement officers. His rhetoric when discussing the violence in Charlottesville in August, when he told reporters, “I think there is blame on both sides. You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” has encouraged racist attitudes and emboldened white supremacist groups.
Another student observed that the purpose of Kaepernick’s protest had been co-opted by Trump and others for their own purposes. The Seattle Seahawks linked arms in solidarity with Kaepernick’s protest last year. Trump recently tweeted that he approves of players linking arms, but not kneeling. This shows he either did not understand the Seahawks’ show of solidarity or is repurposing it. On September 25, Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, owner Jerry Jones and his family, the police chief of Dallas, families of slain police officers, and the entire team kneeled before the anthem and stood during it. One student noted that Cowboys owner Jones was just protecting his investment. But this highly choreographed yet still thoughtful act aimed to show solidarity with an identified struggle against police brutality and then to honor the American flag by standing. These gestures attempted to decouple these two narratives, but somehow many in our country will not allow that to happen. Critics are now dismissing any of these team-organized protests as hollow, gentrified whitewash, and without meaning. But how NFL coaches, players, and owners are considering the issues is surely better than how the NFL brass and ownership have completely missed the boat on other vital issues, like domestic violence and player safety.
If Trump is so hell bent on belittling others and talking tough that he can even threaten the annihilation of North Korea, then NFL owners and coaches must decide how they are going to respond. Can they meaningfully act in solidarity with their predominantly black players while they continue to shun Kaepernick? In my course, we look at athlete activism, and it is clear that athletes such as Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Muhammed Ali, and Billy Jean King were viciously denounced and abused during their playing careers, but eventually were lauded for their courage to stand, or in Kaepernick’s case kneel, for what they believe.
I recently heard one radio talk show regular characterize athletes kneeling during the anthem as a “desecration of the flag.” It made me think back to the summer of 1968, when I was seven years old. I remember watching two of the American Olympic medalists in the 200 meters, Juan Carlos and Tommy Smith, raise their fists during the playing of the national anthem. Not understanding their gesture, I looked to my father. I do not remember what he said, but he looked at them with disdain. He was an FBI agent and the Black Power salute used by Carlos and Smith was at the time a gesture associated with the Black Panther Party. The director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, saw the Black Panther Party as a violent threat to society. My father was a World War II Army veteran and a US Marine prior to joining the FBI. He spent his career involved in counterintelligence against spies of the former Soviet Union. One of his proudest moments was when the Berlin Wall was demolished in 1989. He continually risked his life and always felt it was a privilege to serve his country.
It is not hard to understand where my father was coming from. He was a patriot and served democratic ideals. But for black Americans it is different: if they speak out to make a more just and equitable society, they are vilified. After the Smith and Carlos protest, they were booed. Smith later that evening in 1968 said, “If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight.” My father’s feeling that it was a privilege to serve his country and defend its democratic ideals was a different sort of struggle than Kaepernick felt compelled to wage. Tommy Smith voiced the ambivalence blacks and other peoples that have suffered a long history of oppression feel.
Fans will soon tire of being confronted daily with the thorny issues of privilege, freedom, and our racist history at sporting events. Sport teams at all levels are more successful when players learn to become more selfless and act in the interest of the team. It is a life lesson that can be drawn from participation in team sports. And teams like the New England Patriots have prospered under the highly conformist culture created by Coach Bill Belichick (Hon.’04). Trump’s decrees on Twitter about what forms of protest are acceptable, however, will surely present challenges and opportunities for coaches and teams as they wrestle with societal problems while trying to stay together in the arena.
John McCarthy (SED’04), a School of Education clinical associate professor and director of SED’s Institute for Athletic Coach Education, which offers training and education for coaches in the community, particularly those involved in youth sports, can be reached at jmmcc@bu.edu.
“POV” is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state, national, or international. Anyone interested in submitting a piece, which should be about 700 words long, should contact Rich Barlow at barlowr@bu.edu. BU Today reserves the right to reject or edit submissions. The views expressed are solely those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University.
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