My take on kneeling to the flag, in the sense done by NFL players:•Sitting on the sidelines while playing the national anthem and portraying the flag is passive, takes you out of the picture – It’s an “I’m not in it” gesture”.•Kneeling to the flag ceremony means you are in the game, a participant, an American citizen showing respect (especially if you still place your hand over your heart) but also choosing to signify a problem. In the NFL current situation kneeling represents the dissonance is how black Americans are sometimes treated and viewed by police officers. You may agree or disagree, as is your right and as is protected by the Constitution, but we are all Americans.•Kneeling under the flag is PROTECTED by what the flag represents – the right to protest, the right to choose how you protest, the right to free speech, the right to your own view in a democracy, the right to be yourself, the right to be an American with all the American Flag represents, as expressed in the Constitution and its continued evolvement as intended by the founders. This is what the flag represents. How fortunate to be an American.•I fought for America, I’m a Veteran, I believe in what the American Flag stands for, in a country of diverse people and beliefs. I fought for mine and your right to kneel as a form of protest under the American Flag, representing America under the Constitution – unlike many other countries where a simple wrong gesture, wrong word, wrong belief, wrong religion, wrong color, or wrong gender can be grounds for censure, prosecution or even death.•Proud to be an American where the flag waves true.
My take on kneeling to the flag, in the sense done by NFL players:•Sitting on the sidelines while playing the national anthem and portraying the flag is passive, takes you out of the picture – It’s an “I’m not in it” gesture”.•Kneeling to the flag ceremony means you are in the game, a participant, an American citizen showing respect (especially if you still place your hand over your heart) but also choosing to signify a problem. In the NFL current situation kneeling represents the dissonance is how black Americans are sometimes treated and viewed by police officers. You may agree or disagree, as is your right and as is protected by the Constitution, but we are all Americans.•Kneeling under the flag is PROTECTED by what the flag represents – the right to protest, the right to choose how you protest, the right to free speech, the right to your own view in a democracy, the right to be yourself, the right to be an American with all the American Flag represents, as expressed in the Constitution and its continued evolvement as intended by the founders. This is what the flag represents. How fortunate to be an American.•I fought for America, I’m a Veteran, I believe in what the American Flag stands for, in a country of diverse people and beliefs. I fought for mine and your right to kneel as a form of protest under the American Flag, representing America under the Constitution – unlike many other countries where a simple wrong gesture, wrong word, wrong belief, wrong religion, wrong color, or wrong gender can be grounds for censure, prosecution or even death.•Proud to be an American where the flag waves true.