Trump Doesn't 'Stand' for America

Today, Donald Trump finds himself opposed to not one, not two, but three major sports organizations. Players in the NFL, NBA, and MLB, have all come out to speak against Donald Trump. Specifically, towards Trump's comments about players protesting the national anthem and players refusing to visit the White House after winning a championship.

Donald Trump says that if anyone wants the "privilege" of making millions of dollars, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect the "Great American Flag (or Country)" and should be "fired."

Let's break down this statement. First off, yes, being an athlete in any sport is certainly a privilege. A privilege that these professional athletes have worked their whole lives for. A privilege that these athletes have had to overcome years of adversity in order to achieve. These jobs weren't handed to them. They've had to work hard, harder than Trump himself, in order to get where they are.

You can say that earning a job through years of hard work is a privilege — certainly a Trump supporter based belief. But you know what really is a privilege? Being handed down millions of dollars from your father. It must be easy to talk about issues of privilege when you are one of the most hypocritical people on the planet.

Second, the use of "disrespect" here is laughable. Kneeling during the national anthem, as an active form of protest, is not disrespectful. The players that are kneeling represent and believe in the true American ideologies and values. Values that are being infringed upon. (In fact, these players represent the "American Dream" more than Donald Trump ever will.)

The right to peacefully protest is in the constitution for a reason. You cannot get mad at someone for doing exactly what you were criticizing them for not doing. All you are saying then is that, "We don't want you to protest at all. We just want you to suffer injustice." Clearly, Trump supporters do not understand that Colin Kaepernick decided to protest.

Which leads directly to the third point: worshiping symbols over values. Without getting into an in-depth discussion of why this sort of radical patriotism is inherently dangerous, at face value, it is a direct offense to the millions of Americans who love this country. To worship symbols over the actual people of this country, does not show that you love your country, in fact, it does the opposite.

To worship the anthem, or the flag, is a nationalistic approach to representing a specific idea of what one believes America should be. An idea that limits and prohibits the great development, diversity, and strive for equality that America has posited since its inception.

Look at Trump's tweet specifically. Trump says "Great American Flag (or Country)." The country is in brackets. Trump does not care about the country, or its people. If he did, he would not put "or Country" in brackets. What he did put, however, is "Great American Flag." Why? Because his supporters love worshiping their symbols. They love worshiping their symbols even if they are standing vehemently opposed to what those symbols represent.

The American national anthem mentions the flag in every stanza. Every time the anthem mentions the "star spangled banner," it is proceeded by waving the flag, in triumph, over "the land of the free and the home of the brave." The anthem and the flag are two of the biggest pieces of ideology that represent the ideals of freedom and equality. Trump and his supporters want to change that meaning to support their bigoted, racist, sexist, ablist, anti-LGBTQIA rhetoric.

The protest of the anthem is not a disrespect to the anthem, or the Great American Flag or Country, but a reminder to the people of what this country should actually stand for. Equality, justice, diversity, freedom, among a litany of other beliefs. Athletes like Colin Kaepernick stand for the what the real America is. Trump and his supporters clearly do not understand what that entails.

Day after day, Trump shows that he has no idea what America actually is. While Trump does everything to please his base, Trump's base is not what America stands for. As more and more athletes come out in opposition to Trump, hopefully the fans of these sports and players realize the truth of the matter. The only person abusing his "privilege" and "disrespecting" the flag and country is Donald Trump. If anyone should be "fired," it is Trump and all of his supporters. I'd watch that show.