There has been a lot of talk recently about professional athletes, mainly National Football League players, making protests during the national anthems at games.
It all started with Colin Kaepernick who decided to sit during the U.S. National Anthem at an NFL preseason game in protest of the way that different races are treated in the country.
Since then a number of NFL players have followed suit either kneeling during the anthem or raising a fist, in homage of Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
Recently, U.S.A. hockey coach John Tortorella joined in on the conversation telling ESPN “If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game.”
Tortorella was referring to players on Team U.S.A. for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey taking place in Toronto Sept. 17 – Oct. 1.
Tortorella has since received great backlash for his stance, which to his credit he stood behind, telling ESPN the next day “I’m not backing off.”
A lot of people have taken great issue with his stance. I for one am not one of them.
While I understand the people who argue that Tortorella is taking away their freedom of speech, there’s more at play here than that.
The World Cup of Hockey is an international sports competition featuring some of the best hockey nations in the world and two continent teams, which is a conversation for another day.
These players were selected to represent Team U.S.A. at the tournament. If they wanted to make a protest the strongest protest they could have made would have been to refuse to play.
If a player had of simply said, while I appreciate the opportunity to represent my country I do not feel it would be right to do so given that I do not agree with the way that different races, genders, religions, or anything else are treated in our country.
Case closed.
But to say yes, I will represent my country and to then make the protest seems a little contradictory to me. It says I love my country and I will represent them at an international hockey tournament but I do not love my country enough to stand at attention when our anthem is playing.
I do not think the message would have the same meaning. And so for those reasons I wholeheartedly agree with Tortorella.
As for the issue of NFL players protesting during the anthem at games, I have much less problem with it.
I would really like to see those players not protesting but not because I do not think they should but because I would much rather see them not have a need or a reason to.
To me it would be nice if we did not have feminism or Black Lives Matter or any of the other movements that are currently going on in our society.
It would be nice if we could all just be one.
Unfortunately, that is not how it works, which is why we have these movements.
There are serious injustices taking place in many parts of the world, not just in the United States that require us to stand up for different sections of our society.
But why can we not just be a society?
Why do we have to look at women as different from men?
Or people of a different race as different from our own race?
Or people of different nationalities as different from the people of our own country?
Admittedly, everyone is different.
But we should be looking at people as different because they have different thoughts, opinions, and emotions. Not because they have different genders, races, nationalities, or religions.
If we all just saw people as people and treated everyone with honesty and respect this world would be a much better place.
And comments like Tortorellas, or protests like Kaepernick’s would never become part of our conversation.
But for now, until we get to that point, if we ever do, we are going to see plenty more protests from athletes, celebrities, and other people around the world.
