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Liberty and Justice for All

I have been struck this morning by something that seems so simple now that I see it, and I am sure I'm not the first to have realized it.  Journalists of many stripes have taken to referring to the actions of some NFL athletes as "anthem protests".  That is, quite simply, inaccurate. 

The taking of a knee during the national anthem is not to protest the national anthem, rather it is to protest police brutality against minorities.  It just so happens that it is taking place during the national anthem.  Imagine if we referred to people who were evacuating before Irma as "fleeing to get away from their homes."  That, too, would be inaccurate.  They were evacuating to escape the dangers presented by the wind and rain that were coming with the storm.  They were doing what was necessary to protect themselves.  To refer to their actions as a flight to leave their homes and get away from their lives and belongings would be silly, because it's inaccurate.

The same can be said about referring to football players taking a knee during the national anthem as "anthem protests."

The problem that arises is an incorrect understanding by people who don't, or won't, dissect the semantics of the situation to get behind the catchy phrase.  They are then upset that people would protest the flag, which is not what is being protested.  In some cases this leads to racial divides, partisan divides, and patriotism divides. 

When referred to as "anthem protests" there is an interpretation by some that these men are being unpatriotic and disrespectful of the flag, the national anthem, and of what this country stands for.  In reality, they are acting in a way that is striving for the very heart of what the United States of America stands for.  They are pointing out an injustice and trying to help the country talk about it, change it, and become a nation that is, at long last, a nation "with liberty and justice for all."

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