Memorial Day, the Flag and the NFL

By Hank Silverberg

       I put the flag up on the pole outside my home this Memorial Day weekend. I don’t fly the flag every day, just on significant holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, July 4th, Labor Day and Election Day.  

(My flagpole)

     
        It is not the flag that I am honoring right now, though. It’s the thousands of men and women who gave what Lincoln called their “last full measure of devotion” for what the flag stands for—Freedom.   
          Memorial Day honors combat war dead, from Robert Munroe, one of eight who died at the Battle of Lexington in 1775, to 22-year-old Army Specialist Gabriel Conde of Loveland, Colorado, who was killed last month in Afghanistan. As Lincoln said at Gettysburg when dedicating the 1863 battlefield, “it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”   
     The flag is, though, just a piece of cloth. The republic for which it stands is one of the greatest endeavors in all human history supported by what is probably the greatest written work ever, The Constitution of the United States.    

(Arlington National Cemetery,

Courtesy US Army) 

  So, it was with dismay this Memorial Day that I watched the Constitution bashed once again by one of the most prominent organizations in our country, and by the President of the United States. The rich men who own the 32 teams of the NFL, with a few exceptions, have decided that the 1,696 players who work for them must stand for the Star Spangled Banner, at the start of each game, or stay in the locker room. They have banned kneeling during the National Anthem, which began last year as a protest against racial injustice and police brutality. It's a condition that remains a significant problem in this country.                                                                      
       NFL teams are corporations. They can, as private businesses, make rules that their employees must obey. They have the right to do it. But as it has done many times before, the NFL is missing the point. They promote their game as an American sport, with American values. They wave the flag often, honor military vets as they should, and even took money from the military (which means the taxpayers) to stage some elaborate ceremonies for the troops. What was their motivation for banning the silent protest? Was it to boost TV ratings, which were down 10% last year partially because of the controversy? Was it to send a message to the players, that despite their high salaries and public persona, the owners still control things and the players are just employees? Or was it a bit of both?                                                                                                           
      Despite all the show of sunshine patriotism with flag waving and military flyovers, the NFL negates one of our basic rights guaranteed by the First Amendment: the right to petition the government to redress grievances. Protest IS America, whether it be football players kneeling during the National Anthem, thousands of students marching in favor of more gun control or a flag being burned during a demonstration in front of the White House. 
      The NFL’s decision comes the same week the man who sits in the Oval Office disparaged another part of the Constitution. Mr. Trump, who has convinced me he has never read the document, was asked by Fox News about the backlog of cases in U-S Immigration courts. His answer is both uninformed and frightening.  

        "Who ever heard of a system where you put people through trials? Where do these judges come from? You know a judge is a very special person. How do you hire thousands of people to be a judge? So, it's ridiculous. We're going to change the system. We have no choice for the good of the country."     

       That, of course, is in direct conflict with the Constitution. The 6th Amendment clearly states in part: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.”  Add to that the 14th  Amendment which states in part: “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law: nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

      Of note, this applies to “ANY PERSON WITHIN ITS JURISDICTION,” which means visiting foreigners, or illegal immigrants as well as citizens.
      The President’s continuing efforts to weaken the Constitution and a major organization’s insensitivity to a substantial grievance by its employees and millions of fans, do a disservice to those we memorialized this weekend.

(US Soldiers fighting in Korea,

Courtesy Truman Library) 

You hear a lot of  people say that Memorial Day has lost its meaning and that the public is more interested in picnics and sales at the mall. That's true. We need to remember what the holiday represents.                                                                                  

      We also owe it to the thousands of men and women who died at Lexington, Little Round Top, Chateau Thierry, Iwo Jima, Hue , the jungles of Niger and hundreds of other battlefields to honor not just the flag they fought under, but also the US Constitution they swore to defend. 

                                                   (Your comments and suggestions are welcome)


          (To purchase a copy of my latest book "The Campaign" go to Amazon.com,       hanksilverbergbooks.com, BN.com or send me an email below)