In Anthem Controversy, Kneelers are the Real Patriots

The controversy surrounding the national anthem has been framed as one between showing respect for country, flag and military personnel on one side, and the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment on the other. But there is a much more profound issue at play here, one that can be illuminated by considering the words of Abraham Lincoln.

In his Gettysburg Address, dedicating the national cemetery there, Lincoln noted that it was right and proper that we honor the dead through such ceremony. But he went on to note that such ceremony was meaningless if the cause for which they died, died with them. He thus proclaimed the only way to truly honor those who fell at Gettysburg – and all who fall in defense of liberty – is to dedicate ourselves to their cause. That cause is to ensure that a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, not perish from the earth.

We've heeded his call. In the 150-plus years since that plea was made, we have fought steadily, if unevenly, to fulfill that vow made at Gettysburg. For some, that fight meant taking a seat in a school once prohibited because of skin color. For others, it meant taking a seat at a “Whites Only” lunch counter. And at least once, it meant taking a seat at the front of the bus. Today, for some who believe we have stalled in pursuit of that dream, that fight means taking a knee.

And just as those who integrated our schools, lunch counters and city buses faced the wrath of a public that felt such brazen acts of disregard for societal norms were out of place and disrespectful, so it is with those who take a knee. Likewise, those calls to stand up and show respect are reminiscent of those calls to get up from the counter, go to the back of the bus and stick with one’s own kind. It should surprise no one that such demands only stiffen the resolve, especially when they come from the highest office in the land. Where one would hope to find support in the fight for justice and equality, one finds only opposition and disdain.

When asked what kind of government the framers of the Constitution had devised, Benjamin Franklin famously replied, “A republic – if you can keep it.” One virtue of a republic, compared to direct democracy, is that it provides for majority rule while guaranteeing minority rights. We can debate how deep the racial attitudes underlying today’s concerns regarding those minority rights truly run, but we should not – cannot – deny that those concerns rightfully exist. This nation fought a deadly civil war to begin delivering those rights to an entire race. But as Lincoln noted, bowing our heads in reverence to those who died in battles past dishonors their sacrifice if we do so at the expense of fighting for their cause today. By that measure, those taking a knee are paying those who’ve fallen the highest honor.

Floyd Protests Revive NFL Kneeling Controversy (AP photo)