The NFL’s National Anthem ‘Compromise’ Proposal Isn’t Much Of A Compromise

Everything that has occurred in the NFL’s ongoing attempts to “figure out” its “national anthem problem” stems from one thing: White people in the United States aren’t good at talking to persons of color about matters of race. This country’s history when it comes to matters of race is, uh, really super incredibly bad, and having to confront these issues and have the conversations that need to be had in order to work towards a more just and equitable society involve white people hearing some uncomfortable truths about their American experience.

This means that when you try to put a bunch of NFL owners, all of whom are white, in a room to come to a “solution” on the “problem” of “players taking a knee before a show of ‘patriotism’ before games,” you get half-assed solutions like this.

The NFL and its owners/persons in positions of power put this plan together without the input of any players or the Players Association, meaning it’s a “compromise” position that had no input from one of the parties involved in said compromise. We could all speculate and assume this, because it is a bad plan, but NFLPA executive George Atallah confirmed that this was the case.

The NFL is a business, as are its teams, and like any business in a hypercapitalist society like the United States, the most important thing is always the bottom line. These entities have decided that the most important thing, in an attempt to put forth a national anthem plan, is to make sure their bottom lines see as little drop off as possible.

The league’s owners and executives decided that, to make sure that happened, they’d go with a half-hearted plan that makes “respecting the flag” their No. 1 priority while sweeping the message their players are trying to send — which is decidedly not “the flag should be disrespected” — under the rug. It is a plan that puts these hard conversations about race on the backburner and, if the owners have their way, out of the public eye so the NFL can continue to try and position itself as America’s League™. This plan also puts the onus on teams to “address” this made-up issue, meaning the NFL can absolve itself of any responsibility in this situation.

It is, of course, an indictment against the NFL (and the United States, in a way) that it feels like the best way to be the league that represents the nation is to ignore what is being said by players like Eric Reid, Malcolm Jenkins, and of course, Colin Kaepernick. They are not taking a knee to disrespect the flag or the national anthem — both of which have turned into a representation of those who serve in the military as something of a straw man to try and guilt these athletes into standing up, putting them in an impossible situation where they can either side with “the troops” (good) or “not the troops” (how dare they!?).

Instead, what they are doing is trying to raise awareness and start a dialogue regarding race relations in the United States, especially when it comes to African-Americans and the police. Again, this is the type of conversation that gets pushed aside because it requires confronting deep-seeded issues regarding race in America, which is why players are using something as public as an NFL game as a place to try and kickstart this dialogue.

And even if they were actively trying to “disrespect” (whatever that means) the flag (which they are not), this is their right, just like it is your right to hop into the comment section and call me a “snowflake” for literally every word that appears in this article.

That does not matter to the NFL, nor does it matter to the group of decision-makers in the league. What matters to them is plugging their ears, shutting their eyes, and going “LA LA LA LA LA” while players are trying to speak out, opting for a form of faux patriotism over amplifying the voices of those who want to use their platforms for change. The NFLPA, meanwhile, seems like it is prepared to fight the league over this new plan, which is good, because the plan is bad.

The NFL finds itself in a unique position. It is the biggest sports league in the United States, meaning it has the unique opportunity to steer conversations into, really, any direction it wants. With regards to the ongoing debate regarding a pregame ceremony that didn’t exist until 2009, the league has decided to go with a solution that shows it still has no idea (and doesn’t seem to care) why these protests are happening in the first place.