Tag: social injustice

The NFL beat Trump. Soundly.

The following column by Jerry Brewer was posted on the Washington Post website September 24, 2017:

Players from several NFL teams peacefully protested President Trump’s recent comments during the national anthem on game day Sunday, Sept. 24. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)

The NFL players stood, knelt, raised fists, sat, abstained . . . whatever felt right. They did it mostly as a team, a collection of individuals who choose to play together and sacrifice for each other. During the national anthem, they didn’t act like a brainwashed mass who had traded their diversity just to wear the same colors.

The latter is a flat and uninformed way to view the concept of team, and the same could be said for the different ways we act as American citizens. You have to understand that to grasp the power and poignancy of one of the most meaningful Sundays in NFL history. Throughout the nation and in London, the league responded to President Trump’s scathing, profane and ignorant criticism by showing him two things he can neither comprehend nor inspire as a leader: empathy and unity. Continue reading “The NFL beat Trump. Soundly.”

This is what the flag stands for, Mr. President

The following commentary by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post was posted on their website September 24, 2017:

IN 1943, with the nation mobilized for war against fascism, schoolchildren in West Virginia were required each morning to salute the American flag. The purpose, seemingly unexceptionable — and in fact not objected to by many — was “teaching, fostering and perpetuating the ideals, principles and spirit of Americanism.”

However, to Jehovah’s Witnesses the flag was an “image,” which, under their religious beliefs, their children were forbidden to salute. Students refused to do so and were expelled from school; parents were prosecuted; eventually, the case reached the Supreme Court. Continue reading “This is what the flag stands for, Mr. President”