Just a short one today, I’ll be back with my usual-length posts on Sunday. Also note that I know virtually nothing about the NFL. 

For those of you who don’t know, Kaepernick is an American football player, who has recently caused controversy by kneeling when the national anthem is played at football games. Trump has come out strongly against him, arguing that everyone should stand for the anthem out of respect for the country. Kaepernick chose to kneel as a protest against the plight of African Americans, but for his critics, politics is no reason for what they perceive to be an unpatriotic gesture.

As a non-American, I have a few thoughts here. Firstly, I think the act of singing the national anthem before a sporting event is bizarre and unnecessary. I understand it’s a tradition that has continued since WW2, when the government instilled patriotism into public life to shore up support for the war effort. I don’t believe there’s anything immoral with it. But such ostentatious displays of nationalism are a little crass and excessive in my view. So if Kaeperick disapproved of this habit because of its anachronistic nature, I would totally agree with him.

My second point is that patriotism, however at times admirable, should never be mandatory. The idea of coerced allegiance to any political entity is an extremely authoritarian one. Dictators, populists and other strong-men often portray their opponents as unpatriotic in order to delegitimise them. So no one’s patriotism should ever be questioned when they are making a statement about domestic policy, as Kaepernick is in this instance.

Kaepenick’s detractors have failed to properly engage with why he has chosen to protest. Rather than focusing on the act of kneeling, which after all is only symbolic and isn’t hurting anyone, they should enquire as to what his motivations are, not simply dismiss him as unpatriotic. The fact is, Kaepernick has a point. Although a lot of progress has been made in terms of advancing civil rights since the 1960s, that progress has slowed down in recent years. Many Americans assume that the country has already made all the changes necessary to achieve racial equality, and that race relations are now a non-issue. Kaepernick is trying to highlight how African Americans are still poorer, less well educated and more likely to be the victims of violence than the population at large. As well as racist attitudes persisting amongst a notable minority of Americans, many more are indifferent to the needs of black people, subordinating them to the needs of the general public, rather than recognising that blacks have legitimate interests as a group.

Ultimately, Kaepernick’s actions ought to be uncontroversial, regardless of your views on race or patriotism. He hasn’t broken the law, or encouraged any illegal behaviour. He is simply drawing attention to what he believes is an important issue, using a means he knows will draw attention. If others happen to disagree with his views, that’s fine. But in a free society, everyone should be able to express themselves how they choose, however unpatriotic their expressions may seem to be. On a broader note, I think unconditional patriotism is quite a dangerous idea. Loving your country regardless of the actions of its leaders is stupid. Instead, patriotism should be qualified: how well does the country treat vulnerable people? How does it look after its children, the elderly or the sick? Does it defend itself effectively against foreign intrusion? Does it encourage entrepreneurship and innovation? Does it allow for free expression and religious practice? For Kaepernick, America is failing in its basic duties towards its citizens. I’m not American, so I can’t determine whether he is right or not. But objectively speaking, there is a lot of discontent in the country. If peaceful expressions of that discontent are treated with repulsion and disgust by the political elites, then America has a grim future.