The Stars And Stripes Will Cause A Fight Deep In The Heart Of Texas

The Stars And Stripes Will Cause A Fight Deep In The Heart Of Texas

The NFL 2018 regular season begins September 6, 2018.

With all the issues facing the NFL ranging from drug abuse and violence against women to the diagnosis of CTE, it would seem the matter of a flag –made in China in most cases– and a national anthem modeled after a British drinking song, is the hill on which this business with a current net worth of $2.3 billion has decided to die on. This is all happening under the benevolent neglect of Roger Goodell.

With this fortress of owners resolute in fining players for kneeling, with pressure of the Executive Branch of this nation for conformity under the guise of patriotism, it would seem there is a break in rank with America’s Team: the Dallas Cowboys. It was this past May when the NFL owners passed a rule regarding national anthem protests. From these talks gave the option of players being able to protest out of sight of owners, coaches and of course the viewing public–in stadium and the millions of patronizing fans watching from the comfort of home.

It is no secret Jerry Jones has been a vocal proponent of this policy. However, it would seem as if there has been a disruption to this political defensive line as it were. With the Dallas Cowboys training camp starting last week, all of a sudden the most vocal supporter of this enforcement is now silent! This is on the heels of only last Wednesday telling reporters ‘his team will have its own rule’ in regard to the anthem. Specifically saying this:  “Our policy is you stand for the anthem, toe on the line.”

Now, there is a parallel which cannot be ignored with this situation. There is no denying it, and it is an insult to national intelligence not to call this what this is. The organization of the National Football League is a proponent of racism and policing of black bodies for the comfort of white supremacy, cloaked in the comfort of white people. It is not sufficient for the Dallas Cowboys owner calling the President of the United States, who can no longer hide behind the veneer of respectability or lack of racial bias, to identify his tweets about this matter of players exercising their granted First Amendment right as ‘problematic’.

This is a Willie Lynch agenda. The Willie Lynch letter is a document penned to slave owners of Virginia in 1712. The letter detailed how to deal with ‘unruly slaves.’ Now, in the interest of fairness and transparency, most scholars do not believe the person of Willie or William Lynch existed. However, the meat of the letter is this:  the control of slaves within a colony.

The National Football League, now threatened with an unprecedented retaliation, economic deficit as well as its employees having the backing of a union fully intent and purposed in seeing the owners do all they are contractually obligated; it is safe to assume they don’t know what to do.

However, in this radical public shushing of Mr. Jones, one would be inclined to believe if not for reason, perhaps for dignity, he was asked to be quiet. Perhaps it would and is out of the need for preservation of the entity of the NFL. Perhaps for the want of money, retention of fans, and fear of the loss of replacement players (Don’t miss the fact greater than sixty percent of the players are African-American!).With the proper economic motivation, the NFL may or will cease to carry the prestige it once had to those desiring to be drafted out of a Division I or Division II school. Without replacement players, without those really willing to work under what can now be seen as a hostile working conditions, what resort is there left other than open rebellion?

With this open rebellion due to begin in a little over a month, there must be an acknowledgment of the humanity of the players this ‘policy’ is likely to affect! There must be a realization to force an employee into patriotism is not patriotism, and neither is such a cause just. This situation is a demonstration of conformity for comfort, and comfort for profit, and black bodies are always profit.

 

 

 

Jennifer P. Harris

Jennifer P. Harris is a lifelong St. Louis, Missouri resident, married mother of two, and founder of the blog The Ideal Firestarter (http://theidealfirestarter.com) since December 2016. She is a freelance writer, and contributor to the blog Write To Life. She is an independent author of several books available on Amazon, including the poetry series Love Songs Of the Unrequited, and her newest release, Writelife.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *