To all the athletes who are are protesting "social injustice" by refusing to stand for our flag and/or our National Anthem:
Simply because of your athletic prowess, you have become role models for young men, for better or for worse.
You have a responsibility that goes along with your position to be an example to those who look up to you. So if you really want to do something about social injustices, stop doing things that just make the majority of the people in this country angry, and things that only reinforce the sterotypical behaviors you are protesting. Instead, use your position and your influence to teach younger men RESPECT. (Hint: Start by being a model of respectful behavior yourself!)
1. Teach them to have respect for themselves. Telling them to pull their pants up would be a great start- nobody wants to see their underwear! Dressing decently is never wrong, no matter who you are.
2. Teach them to have respect for women. Again, this should be taught by example- there is a disproportionate amount of abuse of women in the sports world. Look at the number of assault charges against your own teammates! It is NEVER okay for a man to use violence against a women - NEVER!
3. Teach them to have respect for family. Almost 70% of African American births are to unmarried women, nearly double the illegitimacy rate of all other births, according to new federal data. *
Teach them that if they have a baby with a woman, they need to man up and take responsibility for both their child and it's mother, financially, mentally, and physically, instead of having multiple children by multiple mothers and leaving them for someone else to take care of. Children need both a mother and a father. Teach young men they are accountable for their actions. Teach young women to expect men to be responsible for their action.
4. Teach them respect for the law. This is something far too many players of you in the NFL do not have yourselves, judging by your arrest records! No one, not even you muti-million dollar athletes, is above the law. (And while we're on the subject, NFL: Why do you continually turn a blind eye to the criminal activities of your players? You continually give them a mere slap on the wrist for their illegal actions. Isn't it about time YOU take a stand, and stop rewarding criminal behavior? But I digress.)
5. Teach them to respect authority. This needs to begin at an early age: teach them to have respect for their elders, for their teachers, for veterans, and certainly for the police. Teach them they need to cooperate when an officer of the law gives them an order. Belligerence, disrespect and total defiance is what causes them to get shot by law enforcement officers, not race! While there may be rare exceptions, by and large they alone are the ones responsible for what happens to them in any confrontation with the law!
6. Teach them to respect other people, and their property. How does destroying property, stores, police cars, and businesses address the social issues you claim to be so concerned about? How does looting and burning help your cause? All this does is perpetuate the stereotypes.
7. Teach them respect for this country, which by the way, has given YOU the opportunity to get paid millions of dollars to throw a ball around. Go to any other country in the world, see if you're such a bigshot somewhere else.
Respect, that's what it all boils down to. It's detestable that you disrespect our flag, the symbol of our country, which is really the symbol of each and every one of us. WE THE PEOPLE, that's what that flag stands for. And let me tell you, WE THE PEOPLE are pretty much fed up with you and your disrespect!
You still want to take a knee? Then take a hike!
