Stand and Pray - Post Covid Sports Events

Post Covid-19.  After the virus, there will be changes put in place designed to deter the spread of viruses.  That's good. That's fine.

Now is also a time to modify one our great traditions.  The tradition of playing the national anthem before sporting events.  The tradition began during World War II when the anthem was played at NFL and Major League baseball games to support patriotism within the country.  The tradition continued after the war well into the 21st century.  We tend to get stuck in our traditions.

Forgotten was the point that sports was supposed to be a distraction from real life drama, including military conflicts.  In the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a fist during the medal ceremony while the national anthem was being played.  They were protesting racial inequality and racism in the United States.  For that act of protest they were banned from the Olympics and sent home. Their futures, what little there was for black men then, were ruined.

Some 45 plus years later, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, began taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem as a social protest against the mistreatment of black people in the United States.  As in 1968, politicians and others attempted to place Colin's actions as a form of disrespect against the military and those who fought and died in past and present wars.   It was a brilliant technique and distraction to cover the real reason for the social protest.  Of course many people fell for the distraction.  Colin was blackballed after the 2016 NFL season and no team has given him the opportunity to play in the NFL again.  Welcome to America Colin!

As we reflect  during Covid-19, we realize that it will be awhile before people will gather in arenas and stadiums to watch sporting events. During this pause, we have the opportunity to rethink the national anthem tradition.   Do we continue the current tradition?  Or do we use the moment to finally and publicly acknowledge that we were created by a God whose Grace has allowed many of us to survive a world wide pandemic and many more events in the past?

Before each sporting event, let's try this.  Play a soft quiet instrumental melody, devoid of human words. Invite the audience to "Stand and Pray".  Allow each person to stand in place and pray to God in his or her own way.  No one person leads the crowd in prayer.  This is personal.  Each person says or doesn't say what ever prayer they want.

What happens if players' don't stand and pray?  Nothing. They have that right not to pray.  Will they be blackballed out of their league?  What happens if someone in the audience doesn't stand?  Nothing.  They too have the right not to pray.

The first sporting event after Covid-19 would be a great time to start this practice.  Whether it's high school, college, or at the professional level.  Stand and Pray.  Raise your hands above your head and Stand and Pray.  Give thanks for surviving Covid-19.  Pray for those who did not survive Covid-19.  Pray for the families who lost loved ones due to Covid-19.  Pray for nursing homes in the future  being safe from such devastating events.  Pray for events not related to Covid-19.  Just Stand and Pray!

Covid-19 is a worldwide humbling event.  It got our attention, by force.  It  changed many of us, even if we were not infected.  It put our sports idols on the shelves.  It made many entertainers irrelevant.  Standing in line for over an hour for  a box of food can make you forget about that personality you idolized for years.  The social distancing brought some of us closer to God or introduced us to God for the first time.  Covid-19 gave us time together in our homes.  It separated some of us from loved ones in hospitals.  It made us appreciate whatever blessings we have in our lives. The virus was the means by which we were given the opportunity to reflect on our behavior and actions.

Lessons learned.  Now it's time to react.  At our sporting events Stand and Pray.  Even if the national anthem continues to be played.  Raise your arms, and Stand and Pray.

National Anthem Directions and Instructions

I was at a high school football game this past Friday. It was a decent late summer evening.  Not too muggy and warm. I had just finished watching the pre game team warm ups when it was that fateful time.  Time for the national anthem.  The stadium announcer directed us to stand and pay respect to our country and flag.  Instructed us to remove our hats if we had one.  At that point it struck me that we are being told what to do as if we had no choice. "You will stand, you will take off your cap, you will respect the flag and the country!"  This direction and instruction in the land of the free.

I thought to myself "why do you have to direct and command us on what to do? "  If we really respect the flag and all it is supposed to represent, we would not need anyone's directions and instructions when the anthem played.  We would simply stand once we heard the opening melody of the anthem.  The fact that we have to be told what to do seems to infer that we really don't respect the flag and the country.  Respect is being demanded from us.  We are complying because we don't have a choice but to comply.

What would happen if standing for the national anthem became optional?  How many of you would remain seated?  Why is it necessary to play an anthem anyway?  Is it to reinforce a false security in our allegiance to themes we really do not believe in?

A second thought came to mind as I robotically complied and stood looking aimlessly around the stadium. I saw one gentlemen walking out of the bleachers to an area behind the bleachers wearing a hat in the process.  I thought to myself, "now he had the right idea!"  Instead of standing via command I should have escorted myself out of the stands and stood somewhere out of sight while the anthem was being played.  Or I should have just stayed seated with my hat on, waiting for all the patriotic stuff to end.

Lastly came the thought why can't we just stand or sit quietly and say a prayer to ourselves to our Creator?  Why does allegiance to a country that supported enslaving people for hundreds of years have priority over praying to our Creator in whatever way we individually want to pray?

It all comes down to man made rituals and customs that have been forced upon us.  Forced upon us in schools.  Forced upon us in the military.  Forced upon us at sporting events.  Sporting events which are supposed to be a distraction for us from all the serious parts of daily life.  What happened to freedom of choice?  Why are you compelling me to stand for a flag and an anthem which supports a country that dehumanized my ancestors for hundreds of years?

I need to follow the direction of that gentlemen I saw at the football game.  Take a stroll to the rest room or to a hallway and say a prayer.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

There was a documentary on the PBS network in 1987 titled "Eyes On the Prize". It was about the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.  The content of the documentary is still applicable to events occurring today.  It's still available and those of you 35 years and younger should definitely watch it.

Recently politicians, owners of professional football teams, and others have attempted to change the issue of black people being killed by police into an issue over protests during the national anthem.  It is a well crafted attempt to deflect attention from the real issue of black men being murdered by police, just because the police allegedly "feared for their lives".  This fear was even being justified by the police when the person they "feared" was unarmed.  That is the reason for the protests.  It's not about the flag it's about having discussions and then efforts to stop the "MBP" Murder By Police.  Videos have been shown in the past years documenting the murder of numerous black men by police officers.  No mass nationwide call for re training of police has occurred.  The city of Indianapolis has talked about starting Implicit Bias Training of policeman.  Otherwise apparently it's business as usual for the majority of police departments in the United States.

It is very cunning to attempt to cover up the real issues under the umbrella of "patriotism", respect for the military, and "respect those who have lost lives in Wars".  No one is attempting to disrespect veterans, so stop the lie that the protestors are purposefully disrespecting those who have lost their lives in past wars.  The attempts to cover up the issues with patriotism and the symbolic playing of the national anthem shows that those who condemn the protest really could care less about the lives of black people impacted by MBP.  Thank you for your honesty regarding your feelings towards black people.  I would rather you go further and just come out and say "you could care less about a policeman killing a black person" rather than hiding behind a flag and a national anthem as you are doing now.

You are artfully attempting to get our eyes off the prize.  You want to have the real issue ignored.  Just know that we will not let the real issue be ignored.  We will continue to protest, march, speak out and take action regarding the real issue.  We will put a stop to the practice of police killing us because they can hide behind the "fear" card. 

It is amazing to see how the patriots and anthem lovers never acknowledge that enslavement of black people, lynching of black people, racism against black people, MBP and other atrocities against black people really occurred in this country.  Playing a national anthem before sporting events and having people stand for a symbolic flag does not wipe out the past or change the present. Fix the issue that is causing the protests.

Beneath the Flag and the National Anthem – Symbols, traditions, and human made laws.

What do the national anthem, the flag, and the pledge of allegiance mean to me as a 60 year old black man?  In these United States, they are all symbolic creations aimed at demanding blind loyalty and devotion to the beliefs and values of European Americans. That devotion is demanded regardless of what atrocities have occurred in this country against black people. European American institutions attempt to impose these symbols upon us to define who has authority over us.  The symbols start in the school system at an early age.  These symbols and customs have found their ways into our sports entertainment. The NBA, a league where over 74% of the players are black, created specific rules to dictate how players must behave when the national anthem is played.  The motive for the creation of these rules apparently is to ensure the majority of the fans who actually attend the games, those being European Americans, are not offended by protesting black athletes.

I have no reason to be blindly devoted to a country that supported the kidnapping of my descendants from Africa to perform hard labor for European Americans.  I have no reason to be blindly supportive of a country that still to this day fails to acknowledge how it carried out the annihilation of the Native American people who were originally here.

For dialogue purposes I would like my fellow European Americans out there to answer these questions:

1.     Why should current day black descendants of enslaved people stand to honor a country where a black man can be murdered without cause by the police?

2.     Why should a black person pay respect to a country that allowed the lynching of black people and continues to allow discriminatory practices solely based on the color of a person’s skin?

3.     Do you acknowledge that your majority status in this country is based on the total obliteration of Native Americans by European Americans via illegal appropriation of their land and resources?

For me that is the starting point of any discussion on race and the protests against the flag and or the national anthem.

Does the national anthem need to be played at sporting events or any public event?  No it does not.  Sports are supposed to be a distraction from our everyday lives.  We go to watch athletes play a game that provides us entertainment.  The introduction of flag waving and national anthem playing is not why people pay to attend events. If you see someone not standing when the national anthem is playing or refusing to face the flag, understand that they have a reason for doing so.  You do not have to accept their reason, only respect it.

If military institutions want to play the anthem at military events, feel free to do so.  But stop using us non soldiers to visually show support for a country by making us stand at any event you feel demands a support of loyalty.  If democracy is about freedom then give us that freedom and do not impose loyalty tests on us at various social/entertainment events.

The issue of people protesting against the playing of the national anthem or protesting the flag of the United States of America is not a new event. In 1916 the President of the United States and then in 1931 the US Congress authorized the “Star Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem of the United States of America.  Only the first verse is traditionally sung. 

In 1892, the pledge of allegiance, which we all may have recited in elementary school, was written. It was modified in 1923, and 1954 to add specific reference to the flag of the United States and reference to God.  Prior to World War II, students in school would salute while reciting the pledge in a manner that was very similar to the German Nazi salute in World War II.  So the “Nazi” salute was replaced with a hand over the heart stance.  Actor Louis Gossett shared the story of how he would recite the pledge in school but instead of reciting the line “…for which it stands..” he would say “.. for Richard Stands…” not knowing what he was really saying!

Protests against the national anthem are documented well back into the 1900s. The reasons were many.  Anti nationalism, anti war, civil rights, even a protest against spending money on building a sports stadium rather than for a drug treatment program.  The protests were by people of various races and beliefs.

As a black man I understand fully why Colin Kaepernick said enough is enough and no longer robotically stood during the playing of the national anthem.  It was a time when month after month a black man was being killed by police. European Americans need to put themselves in our position.  How would you like it if you were systematically stopped for no real reason other than your skin color?  Would you stand for a system where the police are not trained to deal with their biases and not taught how to diffuse a situation to avoid killing someone?

Being “patriotic” always seems appropriate especially after such events as 9/11.   Patriotism that turns into blind loyalty is dangerous.  Blind loyalty fails to see the truth.  As a 60 year old black man, I recall the events of the 1960s and the civil rights era.  I still firmly believe that the protest at the 1968 Olympics by Tommie Smith and John Carlos was a courageous action.  Many people died during and before the civil rights years of the 1960s.  They died in pursuit of having the same rights as European Americans in this “land of the free”.  They spoke up against and protested against racial discrimination.  Unfortunately some of the civil rights struggles that existed in the 1960s continue today.  That is why people like Colin Kaepernick take a stand.  That is why a black man like myself does not feel obliged to stand and place my hand over my heart as the national anthem is played.