Nate Boyer was right to pen a letter to all the people who are fighting over the anthem protest, but he has forgotten one very small thing about his place in this argument. As a member of the military, the anthem literally has nothing to do with your service. In case you were unaware, the anthem was written at a time that a war was actually already over. The flag does not represent only the military, and you do not suddenly become a diplomat because you were in the military. I applaud Boyer for trying, but what he needs to do is call out racists for who they are.
His call for unity falls flat when he knows full well that people who oppose the anthem protest are showing their racism and bigotry.
The unity that is needed is not possible
What Boyer does not understand is that unity is not possible when one whole side of the argument thinks that prejudice is a fair way to run this country. I would have liked to have heard a lot stronger language about how people view the anthem protest. We are at a point in the history of this country where you cannot oppose the anthem protest and look good. You would have to have a very nuanced argument about opposing the anthem protest, and even then you would look bad. What you should be doing instead is calling out your President for making jokes about hanging LGBT people, how he has disrespected all of Puerto Rico, how he does not know he is the President of the US Virgin Islands, and how he has shown the same political tactics as a dictator.
As a former member of the military, I would have thought that Boyer would want to fight terrorists.
The letter does not explain pregame
If you are not familiar with pregame at any sporting event, you should know that the anthem is literally a Speed Bump in the event. I was in band in high school and college and they literally stop everything in its tracks for this song, then they go right on as if it did not happen.
It is a speed bump in the party that people want to have, and I can assure you that it was not always silent when we were playing the anthem. That is just how it is. People are getting beers, not even standing, still wearing their hats, and generally doing what Kaepernick did. So, instead of trying to bring people together and call for unity, Boyer needs to point out that no one actually respects the anthem at sporting events because they do not revere it. The thing is, you should not revere it. That misses the point of freedom that you do not want people to have.
