Excellent piece.
P.S. I'm a big Yankees fan ... have been since 1955. (A child in Brooklyn, I waited 8 years after 'Jackie and the Dodgers' for my team to 'integrate' -- 'engaging' the wonderful Elston Howard.)
Two things associated with the nightly "God Bless America" interruption in the middle of the 7th inning of games at Yankee Stadium 'ruffle my feathers': (1) It is begun with the P.A. announcer's direction to "remove your caps" and look to the area behind home plate where the the Yankees "honor a retired military guest" (usually "accompanied by HIS family"); (2) As the cameras pan the crowd during Kate Smith's recorded rendition, the # of black and brown faces makes it look like a Norwegian soccer audience.
154
I think this issue has its roots further back than the 9/11 attacks.
I think it started in January, 1991 at Super Bowl 25 in Tampa 10 days into the Gulf War when Whitney Houston sang a stirring up tempo version of the National Anthem that was a Billboard hit just a few weeks later.
John Pareles of The New York Times said then that that song recast the Gulf War as sexy and exhilarating and in contrast to Jimi Hendrix's version played at Woodstock in 1969 during the carnage of Vietnam.
The rendition was re-released shortly after 9/11 and went platinum.
I'm glad there are some older veterans who realize what is happening to the military. But if they are older veterans there was a good chance they were drafted and represented a greater cross section of American society.
Trump is the final nail in the coffin of military honor. He has exposed the rot that lies just beneath the surface of the shiny scabbards and fluttering flags, a massive and costly swamp that needs to be drained.
It is no wonder the military has to recruit today as described by General Honore in this article.
188
Whether it be professional or collegiate sports or the military, at bottom, it's all a carefully manipulated meat market. As their sophistication has grown, it has become hugely profitable for the predatory manipulators.
As the ancient Romans understood, the public's support is best managed by feeding its insatiable appetite for spectacle with a reliable supply of prime sacrificial meat groomed for the roles of hero or villain. It's simply skilled marketing in the service of capitalistic enterprise.
40
Starting games with the National Anthem is something that has gone on a long time. I've always found it appropriate. Immediately after the tragedy of 9/11, when MLB teams, starting with the Yankees, began the 7th inning stretch with G-d Bless America, it was understood, and I found it unifying! However, as the years have gone by, continuing with this gesture, I've found this to be over the top, insincere, borderline obnoxious, and makes me feel uncomfortable! Especially, in the time of Trump, where the concept of American patriotism, has sadly become and incredibly become non unifying, I change the channel, or turn the sound off when it comes on!
36
How do we get out of here?
1- Let Colin Kaepernick play his way out of a job, rather than blacklist him. Who knows,he might even lead a team back to the Super Bowl.
2 - Address the very real concerns of black athletes by penalizing racial bias. After all, taking a knee will no longer be necessary when young black entrepreneurs waiting for a meeting at Starbucks are not subject to arrest and young native American college applicants can take a college tour without being accused of not belonging.
223
Honestly, if I were an athlete of any kind who has to stop and listen to the National Anthem played continuously, year after year, game after game, I too would be begging for it to stop. I find it annoying to hear it played just occasionally attending any game, whether it be high school sports or little league. And in my town if you do not stand at attention, remove your hat and place your hand over one's heart you are considered a commie.
45
Great perspective on how this controversy all developed. I read that Colin Kapernick's protest wasn't based on the whole national anthem but of only the third verse:
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
The reference to the "hireling and the slave" is referencing the black marines that the British recruited to fight against the colonists. "The Corps of Colonial Marines were two Marine units raised from former slaves for service in the Americas by the British at the behest of Alexander Cochrane."
"This legacy of a community of armed fugitive slaves with a substantial arsenal was unacceptable to the United States of America.[13] After the Fort was destroyed in the Battle of Negro Fort of 1816, the former Marines joined the southward migration of Seminoles and African Americans escaping the American advance. "
It is our US history. Should we remove the verse? It is never sung anyway. America the Beautiful is a better choice in my humble opinion.
14
Mr. Bryant does an excellent job discussing the militarization of sporting events serving the dual purposes of maintaining public support for the perpetual state of war and adding profit to the bottom lines of teams.
Mr. Bryant points out that African-Americans have been in the vanguard of athletes using their celebrity to support social activism and that they have been subject to racist criticism. Adding to his observations about that, I would point out that since the Vietnam War era, spanning the end of the draft and continuing with the volunteer armed services, minority men and women are disproportionately represented in the military. They and their families bear the brunt of sacrifice and loss. Instead of being respected for their patriotism, minorities are accused of a lack of patriotism by those who equate it with flag-waving rather than service.
30
This argument (about the faux patriotism in sports, and in society) is long overdue. Patriotism and flag waving have become the political correctness of the right, and a third-rail issue for politicians (and regular citizens) of every stripe. The militarism that it imbues into our society and culture are completely counter to the founding ideals of our nation and contribute to our country's unchallenged titanic defense budgets and dangerously aggressive foreign policy.
Thank you to Howard Bryant for having the guts to write about this.
82
I respect those who serve in the U.S. military, and veterans, but I dislike militarism. We should stop playing the National Anthem before sporting events, period. What does the National Anthem have to do with a baseball or football game? I can understand playing it on Memorial Day, the 4th of July or other patriotic occasions. But its repetition, game after game, has rendered it too familiar and almost tedious. Why should sports uniforms and basketball backboards include the American flag? It is the flag of the government of the U.S., and they are not part of that government. Why the Color Guard? Why the fly-overs at the Super Bowl? Let us be rid of all of these militaristic trappings and enjoy life as civilians. Play ball!
67
FOLLOW THE MONEY. When players started making 25 million/yr guaranteed for 10 years, that was the end of sports. It is a business (clothing, cards, food, endorsements, you name it) and not a pastime, not something you listen to on the radio on saturday morning. IT is trump on steroids. It is no different AT&T or Intel, except that the sports-supporting public pays through the nose to be a bystander. It is as crooked as politics.
19
Thank you for writing this piece. I often wonder about the changes Osama bin Laden caused through 9/11. We may have killed him, but he lives here. He sought to destroy us, and maybe he’s gone one better: he got us to do his work.
55
Great piece. It is not the commercialization that bothers me, think Chirstmas, nor the pure militarism, think video games. It is the fascistic values that combining the corporate with the military with sports, think 1936, that offends.
33
I am so glad the eagles have Bennett on the team now. Out spoken citizens need support for being vocal against injustice and for being a true American.
10
I lost interest in "sports" years ago. Wealthy owners grabbing subsidies, overpaid prima donna "stars", overpriced and over hyped. And now making a point by being jerks---just boring.
12
What the U.S. has done in Iraq and Afghanistan is not something I am proud of as an American. We made some major errors in judgement in the beginning of both of these wars which we refuse to acknowledge or change. Those who work in the military service are good, bad, smart, stupid, courageous, cowards -- just like anyone else in our society. If we were to start a draft again, then I would thank them all for their service. But for the last 20 years, no.
100
I also hate it when, upon finding out that I served in the Army years ago, someone says, "Thank you for your Service."
I dont need your thanks.
What I want you to do is to vote for public officials who will vote for the right level of funding for the Veterans Administration, that takes into account the massive military efforts we have undertaken since 9-11.
I remember that, prior to that date, the VA was held out to be a shining example of what a single payer medical system could work like. After that date though the VA's obligations were increased by XXXX fold, while budget was increased by X. Now the VA is held out as an example of what a disaster single payer health would look like.
The more I think about, the more it seems like all this "we thank you for your service" stuff is similar to getting a meal in a restaurant and instead of leaving the waiter a tip, we simply said, "Thank You for your service." And then expecting them to be appreciative of you.
That is in effect what Americans really mean by this comment. They want something for nothing.
295
Sports is supposed to be a healthy game where opponents view each other with respect, if not admiration, and let the best win, with no subterfuge or cheating, for our general enjoyment. We use to hold athletes in high esteem, an example worth following, as our behavior in the field would likely be a reflection of our decency in the 'real world'. What we have now is a sad spectacle of abuse, what used to be a beautiful encounter of dedicated players to show expert control of the ball, or whatever is the medium to achieve near perfection, the identification of the player, the ball and the goal as one, erasing our ego and creating harmony and awe where there was none to begin with, the result of strenuous training to make it appear an effortless feat of nature. How is it that money has corrupted Sports to oblivion? At the price of plagiarizing your last statement, How do we get out of this imbroglio? Do we care enough for urgent changes, save our soul?
4
San Diego is a Navy and Marine town. The Padres have been saluting them every Sunday for years before the towers came down. I lived there in the 80's and remember how they'd file into opposite sides of the upper deck on Sunday afternoons then jeer and taunt each other for the entire game. It was great and is a San Diego tradition.
So while I agree with Mr. Bryant about the militarization of sporting events, there are some places where it is quite appropriate. San Diego is one.
12
I will feel better about sports events honoring "heroes" when they include people other than the military. There are lots of heroes among us - the inner city social worker, the elementary school teacher spending her salary on supplies.
It's not just about recruitment. Military displays are to meant to foster worship, so that the public never questions tactics nor the wisdom of military action in the first place.
28
"...being used as shields to prevent any criticism of the country or the military" Truer words were never spoke. Except maybe "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel"
30
"If you don't love Major League Sports then you hate America." It's a marketing ploy. Now, let's all play ball and vote for another billion-dollar stadium tax subsidy.
34
Thank you, Mr Byrant, for laying it out so well. Although patriotism has been associated with sports for ages, you are right on with the sudden change in mood and feel during sporting events following 9-11. It seemed quite enough to have rivalries among fans, but emphasizing the political divide has broken my love of sports. I still read about games (go Warriors!), but until God Bless America departs the stadium, I will not be returning to the stands.
17
What a sad, sick nation we have become. I have never been much of a sports fan so I couldn't do a timeline of when this militarization of sporting venues occurred. My husband noticed it but even he seemed unable to connect the exact dots. How cynical. PSYOPS is alive and well and being used on unsuspecting citizens at something as innocuous as a sporting event. Is this also when the television recruitment ads began? I admit all of this is in my peripheral vision, barely registered. Now we are on the verge of going to a calculated and manipulated war with IRAN!! A country that has never once threatened the USA. And the flags wave, and the crowds cheer-on the never ending bloodshed while the cruelly manipulated innocent die. To quote Bono from Ave Maria-
"And war is always the choice
Of the chosen
Who will not have to fight"
Or Steve Earle- "Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man's war."
Trump will sacrifice nothing, Pence will sacrifice nothing. McConnell will sacrifice nothing. Ryan will sacrifice nothing. But they'll benefit handsomely with rewards from the military- industrial complex whom they serve. Gotta keep those coffers filled to keep the donations coming. Our beloved children will die in another manipulated, calculated war of choice believing they are patriots and not realizing how callously they've been used.
Will we ever heed the lessons history teaches? Will we ever be strong enough to say no? No more wars, no more senseless deaths? Will we ever learn?
19
Sports was already revolting long before September 11th. What "sport" is there in competition between people fortified by massive doses of performance-enhancing chemicals? And why should I listen to the political views of people with measurable brain damage? Shut it all down.
7
This notion that the playing of the national anthem is a sacred moment is not only absurd, but a bold faced lie. And IF the moment was so sacred...then why are so many fans so disrespectful during the playing?
I've gone to a great number of sporting events, across the spectrum of sports, and at no time have I ever seen less respect for the anthem then there! People are drinking, eating, milling around, buying fan-gear, screaming team names, ridiculing (usually with obscenities) a near by opposing team player, using their phones. About 1/3 of the attendees even stand up!
A solemn moment it is not!
Near the end of the recital, which is most often off key (what is the songs key anyway?) when the line - "...and the home of the brave" is sung...a huge number of home team fans insert their teams name. So it becomes, " - and the home of the Yankees, Jets, Giants, Celtics, Rockets!"
Is that respect? Is that honoring our armed forces? (which is already over-done at this point) Is that how these people would react in a church, mosque or synagogue? Filling in other names for that of their god?
Sacred is yet another term, idea that this nation tosses off like we do love and commitment, and awesome and so many other out of place aggrandizing terms.
Had a respected white player taken a knee for his cause, to get the public talking...I can guarantee the roar would have been like that of a mouse. But Kapernick et al, are black.
But their cause is not simply about color.
98
My brother, now a retired firefighter, met some hostile resistance when he suggested years ago that it might be time to remove the large American flags flying from the tops of department fire trucks.
Some colleagues wanted the flags to stay because they seemed to think they helped attract women.
12
These are men wise beyond their years kneeling to open our eyes to see a world that can and should become more equal, not more deadly based on skin color.
To the recruiters who would snatch our boys and men to serve as chum for Trump's fake wars fishing for ratings - you should be ashamed. You KNOW that this president is no commander in chief. Shame on YOU.
17
The Colin K. knee protest was a result of the Black Lives’ Matter movement, which was the result of an entirely bogus account of Michael Brown being gunned down while on his knees with his hands up. This lie then gave birth to the entirely bogus claim (easily statistically disproved) that “racist” police were regularly killing innocent blacks.
As to how the loosened stone of C.K.’s knee started this sports avalanche, I suggest it was the mainstream media’s reluctance to (a) loudly insist that the Michael Brown story was false, and (b) to loudly insist that statistical evidence easily disproved the “police kill innocent blacks” narrative.
As to why the mainstream media declined to squash-like-bugs these false stories, I point my finger directly at the leader of that media – the New York Times.
As to why the Times remained silent, I suggest it is because the paper is a true believer that blacks’ seemingly intractable negative outcomes must – must – be the result of white racism; certainly not the result of post-1960s leftist double-standardized affirmative action/welfare policies -- policies that have led to the nearly complete breakdown of black families, with over 70% of black children now being born to single mothers.
I’ll close with one of my “laws”. The Law of Double-Standard Decline: Any systematic attempt to help a group that involves holding members of that group to lower standards of societal norms will result in decline rather than improvement.
14
Here is the bottom line:
"The general said: “Sorry, but we’ve got to man the force, and sports is a great place to find the warrior-athlete. … So hold on to them little SOBs for as long as you can because we need them.”
The Robber Baorns need their war fodder. OUR children.
The insatiably greedy Robber Barons who own/run professional sports teams need more money - there is never enough.
The two monsters saw opportunity in each other - the military and professional sports.
They do not represent MY United States of America. They can fly the biggest flags and shout the most tired slogans but they are no match for those of us who are marching/demonstrating/boycotting/calling, writing, facebooking, tweeting and raising our voices and bodies in every other non-violent way we can think of to stop this madness.
NOW is the time to boycott professional sports. Money is all they understand.
NOW is the time to stop allowing OUR children to be their war fodder.
4
Thank you for an excellent article that needed to be written. I threw up a little in my mouth at the spectacle of the Boston Red Sox' catcher in star-spangled EVERYTHING, playing the Blue Jays, in Toronto, on July 1st last year. Canada Day. The combination of arrogance, ignorance, and indifference was stunning.
13
Great, thoughtful article. I just read a few pages of the book on line. I'm buying the book.
Thank you for taking the stand for American values for all. Racism MUST stop now. Vote it our in November 2018. We must stand up for each other.
Peace.
Oh, I'm a second generation Italian NYC born and raised 63 year old white guy.
11
It is indeed the DOD's mandate to get recruits as General Honoré points out. To make it fair practice, every performance at a sports event commissioned by DOD should be introduced with the announcement: "This performance was paid for by the US Department of Defense".
14
This article conflates very different issues. The need for a voluntary military to recruit among an audience of young men in venues where they are found. If you don't like that institute universal service. Good luck getting Congress to pass that.
The commercialization of patriotism and cloyingly awful efforts by the wealthy team owners to capitalize on it with camo uniforms and other gauche efforts. God forbid we have simple, dignified moments of silence on Memorial day and taps being played on the PA system, instead of jingoism on steroids.
This impacts persons of all races and creeds and colors. Let's be bluntly honest. Many black pro athletes are happy to take a big (even ridiculously extravagant) payday and press the mute button on politics and racism. You know I'm right, sad to say.
5
We all support world peace, especially combat veterans, like me. But is that a realistic goal? Has human nature very recently evolved into Christian charity? Or are we still basically the heirs of Cain, willing to kill for what is, we think, rightfully ours? Or like Abraham Lincoln, for a just cause? Often, yes.
Aristotle categorized death as our ultimate fear. And, therefore, he said it was a great and persistent challenge to somehow encourage citizens to armor-up and hit the battlefield. Why should they sacrifice everything for someone else, mainly total strangers, people they would neither respect nor like if they knew them?
Yet we need warriors. Thus, the ongoing sales pitches: It's a bit slimey, but leaders have always had to schmooze the citizenry, e.g., with my taxes, I purchase civilization, or love thy neighbor: These are advertising campaigns for doing our duty -- if we want a state and functioning society.
So, pay your taxes, love thy neighbor, and, some of you, shoulder that rifle and defend your country -- successful recruits can take advantage of a hefty signup bonus and college benefits, if you live. Welcome to the jungle.
5
Howard Bryant is (relatively) young. Sports have been a forum for patriotic displays long before 9/11. In the 50s the fans stood for the national anthem, hats removed. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, fans who chose not to stand were harassed verbally and, at times, physically. (Aahhh, the smell of a cup of cold beer......... poured over you on a hot summer day I don't count as harassment.) My own experience has been with professional sports. My understanding is that with collegiate (i.e. unpaid labor professional sports), the situation was and still is moreso like that.
As to tables from military recruiters: if there are tables from corporations accountable only to American and foreign investors, I see no problem with having institutions represented that represent and are accountable in some degree to all Americans.
If we had a universal draft, we wouldn't need military recruiters at ball games. And we would have a citizenry with skin in the game, so that we would stop and think before engaging in military ventures. Not to mention having Members of Congress aware that their decisions and indecisions would actually affect their family and friends. As it is now, recruiter tables at a ball game may be the only contact youngsters have with the military.
And, let us remember that sports after high school are mostly a commercial enterprise. The last thing any college or pro team wants is controversy, better known as bad publicity, an inevitable result of having to "choose sides."
4
>>The general added that maybe some little kid attending a Dallas Cowboys game will see an F-14 fighter buzz the stadium and want to join the Army.<<
Only to discover, after he's enlisted in the Army, that the Army does not have a single F-14 in its inventory. And never did.
8
A new enlistee who asked TPTB about that lie might be ordered to scrub the bathrooms with his/her toothbrush. Or do something much worse.
5
I have nothing to add. Just wanted to express my gratitude for Mr. Bryant's words. The last few years have been, to put it inelegantly, remarkably stupid, in particular among us white Americans. Sad to remember that W and his henchmen began the era of coddling the worst impulses of the most ignorant of our citizens. I wish that I could imagine the end of this that doesn't involve violence and the collapse of America.
14
Sports Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
(apologies to Samuel Johnson)
5
Sports is just one manifestation of this. Another are the spaces "reserved" for veterans outside of stores like Harris Teeter.
I respect our veterans and the sacrifice many of them have made to defend us and further our interests in the world.
However, we have a peacetime, volunteer army. (actually mercenary since servicemen and women are paid to serve). No one forced them to join. Were they drafted it might be different. We live in a democracy. Theoretically, there should be no special classes of citizens. And if we reserve spaces for veterans, .... why not have special spaced for first responders... police.... firemen? Why not special spaces for teachers?
The rich are using their wealth to carve out a special America for themselves. That is bad enough and there is not much I can do about that .... yet. But I won't contribute to the stratification of our citizens into special classes by observing the "reserved for veterans" restrictions.
14
The U.S. armed forces must advertise to fill their positions, and they do it with paid commercial breaks when we all know it's a business transaction. What has become nothing more than a paid product placement during the broadcast in the guise of patriotism must be disclosed to the viewers each time.
"The represented military services have paid a fee to participate in today's ceremony."
Announce it to the stadium, the home viewers; flash it on the score board and subtitle it on the TV. There will be multi-layered feelings and discussions as a result.
7
The patriotism being forced into sports is unpalatable.
Even more so is the attacks on the athletes who kneel as a sign of protest against police brutality and not against the "Flag" or "America" or any of the military, to say nothing of the attacks from the current president of the United States, who, when faced with showing his patriotism by enlisting and fighting in Vietnam, took the easy way out thanks to tennis elbow or a stubbed toe or general symptoms of affluenza.
16
Thank you. Thank you. I've watched this coopting of the sports world by the "Military, Industrial, Congressional Complex" and seethed at its implications. I'm afraid the media age has had its way with America and the corporations that mold the message and broadcast the message have succeeded in eradicating critical thinking. Too bad your wonderful effort couldn't have been augmented by a font that conveys anger, maybe a punch the wall or kick the water cooler font. Something that's genuinely part of sport.
13
I'm old fashioned. Sports are games, games to be played, watched, and enjoyed as games (I've done all). Their purpose is not to offer venues for patriotic promotions or expressions of (approved) religion. Just play the game!
167
Super Bowl XLIX was played at University of Phoenix stadium, named for a institution that harvests billions from the GI Bill, and not at Pat Tillman stadium, who sacrificed all for the ideals the NFL claims to espouse.
10
Yankee Stadium needs to go back to 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' right away. Anything else is an admission that the country is on a permanent war footing and that we must forever thank everyone for their service.
If they insist on this nonsense, let's start thanking everyone for their service - teachers, firefighters, sludge haulers, flight attendants etc. etc. Enough already.
229
Question: Do Americans want the U.S. to continue to guard the rest of the world?
If you’re answer is, “Yes,” then pay up. The multinational corporations sure aren’t going to.
3
I used to really enjoy Sunday baseball in San Diego. No longer for me since every Sunday is a military appreciation day. It starts with the camouflage uniforms, with anticipation building in the off-season with the awaited decision of which version of camouflage will adorn the players every Sunday (Marine, Navy, Army, digital, traditional? On sale now!), continues with displays of color guard, the giant flag unfurled over the outfield, some uniformed commander or some other of the officer class throwing out the first pitch, culminating in the playing of God bless America (no Take Me Out to the Ballgame). The dousing of fans in flag and country equals the slathering of sunscreen on the fans in the bleachers.
20
There is no doubt that Colin Kapernick injected race into NFL games in a way that was inappropriate and unnecessary. His mistake was to presume that he knew something other Americans didn't and that an NFL game, played purely for the entertainment of fans who enjoyed at least a temporary escape from the problems of the world, would be the place to remind fans that the world is imperfect and that bad things happen all the time. Kapernick is arrogant and, as a mixed race millionaire, is hardly the person to offer that reminder. A lot of people were offended, not because they don't know that injustices exist, but because the few hours of innocent entertainment that an NFL game usually provides had been taken from them. It's no surprise Kapernick can't find a job. The game is bigger than he is. In a business that depends on the fans enjoying themselves, Kapernick is pure poison. We can get back to grim realities when the game is over.
6
Ya kinda missed the point of (1) the protest by CK and (2) this article.
It not a few hours of innocent entertainment. It is a few hours - 4 or 5 - of unremitting ultra patriotism and recruitment.
You seem to feel that because someone has earned money, they lose all rights to protest anything. CK was blackballed last year and will be again. Check out his stats - they were better than the bottom 10 starters last year.
As for the fans being reminded that all is not well in America the Beautiful, I doubt they are such snowflakes that their entire afternoon is ruined. Maybe 1 minute, tops. What you are angry about is that a bunch of black men dare take a knee and protest. The games went on and the fans gave no more thought to it that the farcical giant flag ceremony.
Such a delicate soul...
29
When injustice is killing people who look like you just for how they look, when driving, walking, eating, standing and breathing while being a person of color is enough of a crime to be killed, then all people who are brave enough to protest have an obligation to use what tools and what forum they have available for their protests.
Colin Kapernick did not "inject" race into the NFL. The contrast between all the white owners, coaches and staff with a majority of players being black is what "injected" race into the NFL. The recently drafted quarter-back from a red state who spoke in favor of the racist policies of his state in a teen-agers' frank language injected race into the NFL. The elderly owners of sports teams who live in white worlds of privilege and use the language of the past which forms their thoughts inject racism into their sports.
When newly integrated sports teams traveled and black players were not allowed to stay or eat in the same places as their teammates, that action by bigots injected racism into sports. The brave ones protested; the cowards were silent.
It would be lovely if sports were innocent games. Almost no pro or elite level sports are free from drug abuse, illegal money to amateurs, bribes to officials for venues and all the other issues which come with the conflation of big money, vulnerable talent and greed. The poison isn't one man protesting an evil all of us should be working to change. The poison is is those who refuse to hear.
28
At least they’ve stopped playing Toby Keith’s Courtesy of the Red White and Blue after the third innings at Nats games (courtesy of SAIC/Leidos). That used to get roundly heckled from my section.
And all this is to say nothing of the kabuki security theater one is forced to endure just to gain admittance to the game. There’s nothing that gets a sporting event off to a festive start quite like being searched, screened and wanded like a criminal suspect
82
I Pledge my Allegiance to the CONSTITUTION of the Untied Stages of America,
And to the Republic which it defines,
One Nation, with Freedom of Religion and Speech,
Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.
The Constitution is the operating instructions of the USA. As symbols the Flag and the Anthem are not as important. In fact, neither the flag nor the Anthem are even mentioned in the Constitution.
Those that use the flag and the Anthem as political weapons, while ignoring what the Constitution actually says are doing real damage to our country.
Kneeling, from praying to kneeling when a player gets injured is a sign of respect.
The players are kneeling in respect to the Anthem as a way to call attention to the fact that many government institutions are habitually not following the Constitution.
Republicans that demand that we put their idea of the Flag and the Anthem above the Constitution, while they try to impose their religion on everyone, deride the Bill of Rights as "technicalities," go against the Constitution's call to tax and regulate trade to provide the general welfare, etc., are far less patriotic than those that exercise their First Amendment Right to call for the government to more closely follow the Constitution.
Compromising with those that oppose large parts of the Constitution is not "grown up," it is capitulation and appeasement.
Protect the Constitution of the Untied States of America, and the Institutions created under its laws.
31
Mr Bryant makes a sound argument in linking the 9/11 attack with morphing of sports into a patriotic display that some view as sacred as the flag.
I do take issue with this being a singular event. Sport has played a chauvinist role in the past, and with Black athletes.
Two events come immediately to mind. One was the 1968 Summer Olympics. At the 200 meter ceremony, Gold Medalist Tommie Smith and Bronze Medalist John Carlos each raised an arm above their heads, each wearing a black glove, during the playing of our national anthem. They were members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, and were protesting the treatment of Blacks in the US. This “Black Power” salute created a fire storm. Brundage suspended them from the team and expelled from the Olympic Village. The Silver Medalist Australian Peter Norman wore a badge in support of the two Americans and was the one who suggested that this form of protest. For his part, Norman was ignored by his nation’s media and reprimanded.
The second was Muhammad Ali. His refusal to be drafted as a means of protesting America’s involvement in the Vietnam War resulted in him being charged with draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. For four years, Ali did not have a boxing match.
9/11 changed a great many things. Its use to penalize Black athletes is an excuse. If a congressman can scream out at a president he is liar during SOTU speech, an athlete should have the freedom to protest discrimination at a sporting event.
36
Shame on you sir, blaming the military and patriotism.
Fans are tired of the players antics. Beating women, drunk driving, and other criminal activity by the players who make millions of dollars is what has us fans tired. The final insult was players protesting during their work hours and our enjoyment time. The NFL will struggle to recover the 30 percent of fans they have lost and probably 20 percent more who are slowly moving away from that sport.
Notice NHL, great fans and players. The hockey players are not political and are not getting arrested and taking steroids.
4
Ice hockey is an entirely different sport. You can't play if you can't skate and this just sets NHL players apart from other professional athletes. This is just my view of the artists on the ice.
1
It's not just sports that has turned into a propaganda machine for the military and patriotism. Nearly every public event manages to refer to God and country somehow as if God and country will fix every problem that exists. Patriotism has become a substitute for spending money on fixing things that need to be fixed whether it's our infrastructure, our social safety net, or our immigration system.
We seem to have forgotten that patriotism is not synonymous with being blind to the existing problems in our country. Nor does being patriotic mean being uncritical. As citizens we should be free to voice our opinions without fearing for our safety or our lives. We don't need the constant display of a flag or the inflammatory rhetoric some politicians favor to stay invested in our country. What we do need is an end to the constant drumroll about our wounded warriors, the alleged menace posed by immigrants. Wouldn't it be nice to hear an acknowledgement of how hard all Americans work to keep our country going? It would be even nicer to see sports events treated the way they used to be: as times for fans and families to enjoy the sport without the constant allusions to the military and patriotism. (It would be even nicer if the costs weren't to come down so more of us can afford to go.)
9/11 could have been used to teach America about real patriotism rather than jingoism. Unfortunately it wasn't.
31
Worse, "God" is not even patriotism. It's sectarianism.
14
I cringe whenever I hear "... and God bless America".
15
There's probably little chance we can easily extricate this patriotic militarism from our sports culture without hyperbolic blowback from Fox News and right wing media. Maybe we could refocus what patriotism means at these events by supporting programs that give equal opportunity for all forms of government service - say teacher appreciation days (that's an easy one), US parks personnel and public spaces appreciation days, or maybe even environmental or OSHA regulator appreciation days. There are so many ways to serve one's country without necessarily joining the armed forces; its unfortunate that we focus on just the one.
16
It isn't as recent as the author seems to imply: I recently read a 1971 Playboy interview with Howard Cosell in which he decried military jet stadium flyovers as a tool to elicit a fake patriotism. He had served in the army in WW2 and understood the difference between symbolic warriorism and the real thing. The manipulation offended him.
Also, think of the 1968 Olympics. Smith and Carlos (as well as the tragic Australian silver medalist Peter Norman) were ostracized for their actions on the podium while in another venue George Foreman was celebrated for waving a flag around the ring. How was one gesture political and not the other?
33
In one of the great thrills of my life I was an American in the stands that day when Smith and Carlos bravely confronted the racism of the times (and beyond). Days later I was a few rows from the ring when George Foreman smugly launched his pitchman career by waving the US flag and prancing around in a "winners' dance. I was reminded of that by reading this article and the comments. The jingoism on display in American sport venues today is disturbing and will only get worse in Trump's America. Resist with all your might.
11
Eye-opening piece. I'd wondered why servicemen and women in uniform still get to board before me. I'm sick of the display before football games -- it's more Hollywood and Hunger Games than serious sports (or the serious business of sports). I'm sick of the jets and the camo (which isn't to say I'm sick of the military. I'm not. I'm deeply grateful for their service, but I don't believe it should be co-mingled with football.) No wonder Kaepernick thought it was a good venue for a protest -- it's a dog's supper of messages at this point.
15
This is a wonderful article. I used to enjoy going to Buffalo to take in a Bills game. Not anymore. In addition to the frosty reception we began to receive at the boarder, we found the heavy military presence at the game and the almost antagonist flavour of patriotism in the stands a outright intimidating and a perfect representation of the paranoid bunker mentality that has steadily escalating for 17 years.
You need to calm down, America. Not only do you not have as many enemies as you think - almost all of us are consumed by running of our lives and the domestic issues of our own countries - but it's clear that in your tireless search for The Enemy you are beginning to turn on yourselves.
61
All too true, Bill. Especially the last paragraph. Can the people of the U.S. listen to some wise advice from outside? Will our imperialist leadership let us hear it?
9
I go to a dozen or so Red Sox games each season. At some point in every game a "hero" is paraded along the roof of the home team's dugout. Every "hero" is in uniform. I have no problem with the concept of "hero", but I do disagree that "heroes" have to have uniforms. How about inner-city teachers? How about care givers at safety net hospitals? How about journalists who expose hypocrisy and cant? And while we're at it, how about doing away with the 7th inning performance of a song that was cut from a Berlin musical in 1918.
42
And I dare say none of them is a hero in the true meaning of the word. "Hero" has become another jingoist reflex word.
7
This is a great column that needed to be written. Thanks, Mr. Bryant, for having the guts to write it
18
I support Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the 49er's performance of "God Bless America", and strongly agree with his principals. Many of his colleagues across different teams supported him as well, and knelt for several games. Do they still have jobs in the NFL? Not sure - it would be interesting to find out.
Now, Colin, as many social activists know, there is a tremendous risk of defacing/blacklisting for any protestor across the world. It is why so few people protest, however much they believe something must be said and changed. Colin had the courage to protest.
Going back to 9/11, there were many people who strongly believed our country was under attack and needed to be defended. They joined the military. They knew it would be a tremendous threat to their lives, but they had the courage to do it. I honor both Colin and our veterans.
Now, getting back to the sports leagues, I agree that the performances of "God Bless America" and whatnot is largely PR. As noted in an early comment, many of the teams' athletes these days are not even native US citizens; as the American flag flies out you often see them with their poker face. The camouflage is PR as well. But if you suggest that we stop this, would you then suggest that our athletes not wear all their pink during Breast Care Awareness in October?
8
As I wrote before: can't a ball game (or any kind of a sports game) just be a game? Why must everyone bring their particular baggage to a sporting event?
And yes, stop all of the "extras" at games. Please!!!
9
Yes. It seems silly. But breast cancer propaganda is (allow me an understatement) much less dangerous to society than jingoist military propaganda.
5
Athletics have been a tool of imperialism in the US since at least the Spanish-American war (with interesting racial overtones within the Army and with dealings with local people).
The whole emphasis on the Olympics and other international contests was funded as part of the Cold War, not because of intrinsic interest in sports.
Even earlier, sports, especially rugby and cricket, were used by the British to prepare young men for service overseas in the Civil Service and military as part of the British Empire, and to diffuse British culture in the dominions and colonies.
6
Not all ballparks play God Bless America". I was in Houston last week for a Yankees game & they played "Take Me Out to the Ballpark" then "Deep In The Heart Of Texas". It was actually quite fun.
16
Exactly - Yankee Stadium is a showcase. However, not all stadiums persist in this embarrassing spectacle.
6
If you have to go to the bathroom and you get up to go during God Bless America, will a policeman throw you out? Are we supposed to deal with a full bladder in the name of patriotism?
28
Owners support of Donald Trump and what he stands for, no healthcare, no food stamps, school vouchers for the rich kids to go to private segregated schools, tax cuts for the rich, etc. That is sickening. And these owners are on taxpayer support for their lavish lifestyles. That's why we are waving the flag at these sporting events, to camouflage to the brain dead what is really going on in America.
40
Billy Flynn’s Long Half-Time Walk. Read it!
5
The very first thing I thought about too. Great book.
When Tim Tebow gets down on a knee to pray during a game, can I yell, "Shut up and play!" ?
50
Of course you can! Indeed, we would expect nothing less from the left. And that's precisely what the left would be doing if the pampered gazillionaires whining about "social justice" were praying. A high school team which takes a knee based upon the delusion that this is a racist country wins accolades from the left. Let the same team do precisely the same thing to pray, the the ACLU will be all over it in a heartbeat.
The difference, of course, is that there is a lot of evidence that the God Tebow worships exists, and none at all that the racism of which Kaepernick complains does.
2
Thank you for saying this outright. Sports display is just one of the subversive methods used to entice young people to sacrifice themselves in unjust wars. The ritual around these attempts to talk young men and women into becoming cannon fodder is a true atrocity.
At least the three-star general, in his obscene remark, was upfront about the purpose of all this pomp and fake patriotism: in short, to feed the military machine, which as always is insatiable.
Unfortunately, when the soldiers arrive in the latest god-forsaken war zone, and it becomes painfully obvious that the reasons for war are very different from what they have been told, they have no recourse but fight to protect their buddies.
If they die doing so, they will most assuredly be "honored" in a posthumous display. Otherwise, they will come home broken physically, mentally and/or emotionally. Perhaps their sons and daughters will be similarly conned. And on and on.
Thank you again for helping to bring to light this latest ruse.
185
I'm uncomfortable with any showy, ostentatious displays of either religion or patriotism. I was taught by my parents that love of God and country were private feelings, and that the people who showed off the most generally felt the least. I see this now in Trump, one of the least patriotic presidents we've ever had, in my opinion (and least religious, too, if I'm honest). I haven't been to a sporting event in decades, other than my nephew's peewee foot ball. I didn't know that sporting events have been turned into recruiting vehicles for the military. What a shame people just can't go enjoy the game anymore.
217
I was not surprised when I watched the Kentucky Derby this year and saw the racetrack ringed with uniformed armed forces personnel. WHY?
It's almost like they think they will be forgotten if they don't put on some sort of jingoistic display.
115
This one article packs more insight into a few short paragraphs, than a year’s worth of reading most opinion posts. The only thing I have to say is “thank you” and I’ll leave it at that.
38
The National Guard has to pay $50,000 to have the National Anthem played? What's so patriotic about that? Ball parks used to play the National Anthem for free.
17
I only wish they would pay $50K NOT to play that terrible song!
4
You are quite right. I am old enough to remember that the only time you would hear the national anthem at a Cubs game in Wrigley Field, in the Chicago where I grew up, was on a special occasion, probably opening day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. And if I recall, it was a recording at that!
By the time that "God Bless America" began to be sung during the 7th-inning stretch, I was already past 50. It has always seemed to be an intrusion. Maybe we could have done it for the few remaining games of 2001, but to institutionalize it was excessive.
You can sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as many times as you want and it's just fun. But to sing "God Bless America" under the coercive cue of marketing and nationalism (as distinct from patriotism) is depressing.
80
Back in the seventies - during the era of the Viet Nam War - another divisive period in recent American History - my hippie friends and I would often attend games at Yankee Stadium - sitting in the upper deck, in the "cheap seats" --
We would sit together in a small group - four or five of us - watching batting practice and enjoying ourselves as the Stadium filled up and the game began -
Being enthusiastic fans, we were more interested in talking about the game and watching the players -- so much so, that we all but ignored the playing of the National Anthem and viewed it more as a pre-game drill - and almost never stood up while it was being played --
We were not making a public statement of protest - we had no "agenda" -- we were jusy waiting for the game to start --
Occasionally we would get an odd glance from people standing nearby - but for the most part, nobody cared one way or the other --
This is not to defend our behavior back then -- but to point out thag during the Viet Nam war - when the mood of the country was the polar opposite of "Support Our Troops" - not standing for the Nationa Anthem was not that big of a deal...
15
It is not just professional sports and athletes that have been enrolled in marketing careers in the military and patriotism. Professional sports used to be about watching grown highly tuned athletes play the games we played as kids to a degree of excellence we only dreamed about.
Now it is about money, not about fair compensation for athletes, but about big money for the very few that make it to stardom and the owners that walk away with a stadium built with taxpayer money and a kings ransom in profit.
The big patriotic shows of marching bands, jet fighters flying low over the field and odd versions of the National Anthem is a way to camouflage the high price of tickets so enough fans will buy them and fill the stands as a screaming backdrop that Television needs to sell commercials.
Don't blame sports for the divisiveness of the Country, look at the roles money plays in professional athletics and patriotism in commercial marketing.
18
From a 70s army veteran: "Me, too."
18
At this time it seems that racism and patriotism are part of the same agenda. The regime in charge at the moment seems to consider racism patriotic and about 40% of Americans are supportive of that agenda.
I have never been particularly interested in sports. I consider it a useless distraction...yet another reason why most Americans know so little about what is going on in the world. Sports is an updated version of a Marxist adage, "Religion is the opiate of the masses."
Now that sports have become another venue in which minorities are denigrated, I have another reason to ignore the American pastime.
19
Actually, it is not sports per se, but the peculiar American focus on sports that engage the other 95 percent of the people on this planet to only a limited extent, as if being a big fish in a very small pond is some sort of virtue. I'm a sports fan, and I think I know a fair bit about what is going on in the world is. For instance, I know who the president of Liberia is, thanks to the sporting angle.
3
My guess is there are just as many non-sports fans who are ignorant of world affairs. I grow weary of reading comments like yours that want to shame people for being interested in things like sports and/or the arts as though every pleasurable pastime is nothing more than a distraction from more "important" things. Those "important" things of course being defined by what's important to you. That's nonsense. It may be beyond your capabilities, but most people are perfectly capable of following both sports and world events. Whether or not they choose to do so has virtually nothing to do with sports and everything to do with broader cultural values and the state of our educational system. In fact, there are many who feel that things like sports and the arts help to deepen our understanding of the world around us.
3
All the questions posed in this article can be answered summarily with one answer: The USA has become the modern-day equivalent of the Roman Empire. The taxpayer funded arenas have become places in which to lie down with dogs. Somewhere Mom is crying into her apple pie.
43
It's not surprising that sports leagues wrap their events in a show of shallow patriotism. Sports after all are a substitute for real violence, in which strong tribal passions can be expressed safely in ways that are less damaging to society. Anthems and flags play upon similar emotions.
The "support the troops" theme that has existed since 1991 also plays upon the unfair rejection of Vietnam vets who were shunned after returning home.
The blatant resentment of and discrimination against Kaepernick, Reid et al, so far out of proportion to their mild protest, has revealed just how cynical this false patriotism is and just how deeply racism runs through fan bases that are happy to be entertained by black athletes who are expected to stay silent about all that is wrong with America.
Time to drop GBA, military uniforms and all this over-the-top stuff. Great article.
101
We didn't all feel it was appropriate on 9/12 or any day thereafter. It is true that 9/11 changed America, but not for the reasons usually cited. It was not a wake-up call, it was the event that unleashed the false pride and faux patriotism that are destroying our democratic republic.
I lived in Manhattan and watched soot-covered survivors walking uptown in the late afternoon. My wife and I smelled the rancid remains drifting up the Hudson as we ate dinner outside that evening. So I know something of the real tragedy.
But I was appalled, the next day and every day since, at the knee jerk jingoism, the self-pitying American certainty that this was the worst thing that ever happened to any people in the world. So, in return, we slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, who had no more to do with 9/11 than I did.
I shuddered as every fancy condo and co-op flew an American flag and Sikh cab drivers put flag stickers on the side window so they wouldn't be beaten. I headed a school and refused to fly the flag. I am not that kind of Sunday patriot. I knew what was coming, and it's here.
9/11 ultimately brought us Donald Trump. It started the aggressive return to "exceptionalism," the anger toward difference, the nationalist surge of bullying, personally and politically. 9/11 provided legitimacy to those who already cherished their guns, their bigotry, their exclusive Christianity and their ignorant nationalism. As Bryant writes, "How do we get out of here?"
328
Bin Laden wanted to destroy America on 9/11. The hatred of "the other" so prevalent in America today is accomplishing his goal.
31
Yes, and more American Troops were killed in Iraq then the number of People killed on 9/11.
Nine months before the invasion of a country that actually persecuted extremist Muslims (even prohibiting beards) the head of British Intelligence returned from meeting with the Bush Administration. In the "Downing Street Memo," he explained to Prime Minister Blaire that the decision to go to war had already been made and that the "intelligence was being fixed around that decision."
Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the other chicken hawk neocons, like John Bolton, lied to start a war, so they could terrorize an entire country into giving up control of its oil to global oil corporations that they owned shares in.
And they spent the whole time waving flags and calling anyone that questioned their judgement "unpatriotic," and "against the troops," whose lives we were trying to save.
Contrary to the popular pundit "wisdom," a majority of Democrats voted against the War, but centrists including those that should have known better since they had recently left the White House, voted for it.
Letting Republicans manipulate you by calling you unpatriotic is pathetic and less patriotic than blindly believing liars.
Soon Trump will proudly try to invade Iran to boost his popularity ratings, distract from his alleged crimes, and further enrich the military industrial congressional complex.
Don't let Trump start a war. He does not have the moral authority to send American troops to their deaths.
59
Corporate America knows that sports are a very conservative enterprise that attracts very conservative fans. Especially baseball. Major League Baseball and its fans would not tolerate what goes on in the N.F.L. M.B.L. has very few American blacks. Baseball fans like that (unstated) fact. Maybe the whole thing started with the Dallas Cowboys, America's team. The team was headed by very conservative ownership, conservative coaches that recruited very conservative players. It's always been the Republican Party's mantra to never criticize America. Never. Love it or leave it. Republican America is not very tolerant.
23
I haven't attended a baseball, football, or basketball game in many years. Late at night I will sometimes watch a few minutes of a game on cable to help me get to sleep, always with the sound muted because I can't stand the idiotic chatter of the announcers.
I grew up as an avid sports fan, but the times are different now;
and the money involved in sports has ruined everything; and the grave trouble the country is currently in has made made sports in general seem silly to me and beside-the-point.
76
I guess everyone lives in their own bubble. I don't follow sports at all, haven't looked at a sports page in 40 years, couldn't name 3 professional athletes, have never seen a full basketball game - and guess what, there are more of us than you!
I don't think that militarism will make me a sports fan.
9
If you're looking for a slice of moral salvation or even a few banal life lessons from American professional team sports, you are wasting valuable time.
American professional sports do a great job at masquerading as enterprises that treat all of it's participants equally and fairly. However, more than 70 years after Jackie Robinson broke the "color barrier", we are still dealing with the pervasive "shut up and play" attitude of fans and commentators vis-a-vis black athletes.
If you are ever brave enough to venture into the moronic, IQ challenged cesspool of sports talk radio, I dare you to find one instance of the "shut up and play" epithet used in reference to a white athlete. Hint, you'll be waiting a long, long time. And BTW, exposing yourself to the "discussions" in this logic free zone for too long will result in permanent brain damage much worse than anything you might end up with playing linebacker in the NFL for 10 years or going on a fentanyl bender.
Watch the games for the skill, drama and entertainment, but looking for anything more meaningful than that in these contests is a fools errand.
19
We haven't heard from Vin Scully, former Dodger announcer in a while after he decided to tell the public that all he cared about on Sunday was for the professional football play to "shut up" and play and that black football players were ruining his "white privileged" Sunday entertainment. With those words he threw Jackie Robinson under the bus. I'll forgive Vin because he is old and probably is growing little senile. Moving forward, hopefully Mrs. Scully will keep Vin locked up.
5
Sports events have become increasingly militarized in theme and politicized so that they no longer are events which can appeal to all Americans regardless of party and affiliation or not with the military. In fact, events such as the Super Bowl appear to be primarily high profile military recruiting initiatives.
21
We somehow manage to do without renditions of the national anthem before watching movies at the multiplex, attending concerts and lectures at museums and universities, and just about any other type of public gathering one can think of.
29
A good, thought-provoking piece. To all the "patriots" who feel athletes should simply shut up and play, please remember that our country was founded by patriots who dissented from the government that existed at that time. We should honor dissent. Our country was founded on dissent; created in a revolution, and sustained by people who despite the pressures of the moment, were not afraid to speak their minds.
53
I refuse to participate in the objectification of the military and the US flag as a method of separating “them” from “us”.
16
"The fan attitude of “shut up and play” may be directed at the big, wealthy athlete, but you know it is also designed to shut all black people up."
No, I don't know that. "How did our sports get so divisive?" is ironic when paired with this line of thinking.
3
MLB and the NBA-- the NFL less so-- are increasingly international affairs, with players from dozens of countries around the world. What sense does it make for Shohei Ohtani, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Christian Villanueva to have to sit through all that schlocky pseudo-patriotism?
122
Not sure what games you are attending. I just attended a Texas Rangers game. The only commonality was struggling, tattooed, tribalists. There was no God Bless America. Yes, there is still a fire fighter push. But the entire Rangers team is South American. The only sport that consistently forces patriotism down our throats is football and it is primarily a black league. This article is like an ole timer sifting for gold nuggets. The gold ain't there for Bryant in this case.
2
"The only sport that consistently forces patriotism down our throats is football "....
and, NASCAR.
9
A wonderfully cogent piece on something that drives this 9/11 World Trade Center survivor nuts. Every pre-game "hero" of the game, every camo-clad non soldier on a field, every tribute to the military (really a tribute to militarism) just rubs salt into the wound of every survivor. It's not a tribute. It is a form of self congratulatory porn on the part of the government-business machine that uses war and militarism as an excuse not to deal with poverty, racisim, and greed. I was willing to take the risk of working in the WTC for over 8 years after the 1993 bombing and I can promise you it was for the American ideals and values which I understood. Not for these daily orgies of false patriotism and false gratitude to veterans and victims of war. Just wear the pinstripes, throw the ball, and conduct yourselves as decent human beings. There could be no greater tribute to all that is American.
239
How do we get out of here ? Start by getting politics and propaganda out of the stadium . Let sports be sports . As for the chickenhawks with the flag pins , support the troops by avoiding war . sign me E1-to-O6
24
Very timely article, thanks. It's kind of scary here in Columbus to see SUVs with the Buckeyes flag flapping from on front window and the US flag from the other. War is now equated with "sport" and big money team sports with war. It's great that some sports figures can use their fame to counter bought displays of national hubris with reminders of our national shame in the realm of social (in)justice toward many people of color and also blue collar workers, farmers, teachers, and so on.
14
I don't follow sports but I know about the actions of Mr. Kaepernick and I support them. I am a senior citizen. White, female, self-employed, a teacher and musical artist.
Thank you for this beautiful article. It is clearly written and sad to read. I had no idea.
Like everything else that's wrong with the USA, in the end, it always comes down to money. When we decided to make profits the only goal we got lost. The amount of brainwashing on top of the onslaught of very narrowly focused religions (together) coupled with the slow tortured death of public education has created a country of people who can't think on their own. It has created a vacuum of deeper thought and that, in turn, has created fear. Frightened people are easy to manipulate.
W. Bush and D. Cheney had a chance to use the good will generated by 9/11 to turn the country around and instead decided to make it an excuse to go after Saddam Hussein, killing far more people than the horrible events of that day ever did. This selfish and foolish decision continues to cost the country and the planet in myriad ways.
I, too, ask how do we get out of here, but unfortunately, except for going to the ballot box, I don't have much by way of an answer. Perhaps if Oprah and other very wealthy black Americans would gather together to push back in a more unified manner, but maybe not even then, would things be different. Please keep writing.
61
Excellent Observation. What about the hyped surveillance we cannot see. That is cataclysmic. You cannot protest what isn't there(to be observed).
6
Thank you for this essay! I am grateful to know that the runaway jingoism that has infected our social fabric in the aftermath of 9/11 is being called out.
57
9/11 did for America what the humiliation of WWI did for Germany. The only "way out" of it is for the American people to comprehend the world around them and understand how they are easily manipulated like helpless children. Given the fact that 17 years after the humiliation of 9/11 we live in a country petrified with fear -- it doesn't look very promising. The ingredients so lacking in American society today are courage, honor and integrity. I guess our society just doesn't value those characteristics anymore.
As a lifelong Yankee fan it really is way overdue to retire the the Kate Smith rendition of God Bless America (fyi New Yorkers -- NY Ranger Fans hate that version -- see Philadelphia Flyers / NYR history circa 1970's !)
"Take me out to the ballgame" would be a welcomed return.
63
I could not agree more. Get rid of that song.
18
Was the humiliation of 9/11 the US version of losing WWI or the US version of the Reichstag fire? The US version of WWI would seem to be the US losing the Vietnam War which planted the seeds for the jingoist outburst of 9/11 which led us almost non-stop (there were a couple of years early in the Obama administration that seemed to be a slowing down of the rise of tribalist, racist, jingoism) to Mr. Trump in the White House.
14
Unfortunately, I don't think the impact of Vietnam was still driving public awareness by 2001. If anything, it was so far removed from our minds that we made the exact same mistake with endless Afghan and Iraq wars. Perhaps, though, the younger generations reflecting on an era they didn't experience or understand looked back with disdain at the Vietnam era as a time when the country was divided between the 'get-in-line' supporters and dissenters who dared to challenge the national narrative. It seems like more opted for the former this go round than risk questioning and challenging the decisions of our government and risk being labeled 'unpatriotic'.
Interesting point on the Reichstag - which pales in comparison to Trump's lying, treasonous behavior. He would have blamed the free press for burning it down and not some external political forces!
Outstanding column. The cynical commercialism of professional sports has shot well past the billboard sponsorship of ballparks, to the naming of stadiums, to the zillion dollar Super Bowl spectacle. This co-opting of patriotism was inevitable.
As far as shutting up black athletes goes, it helps to remember that all sports started as avatars for war, complete with uniforms, anthems, and competition between city states. All the language of sports is the language of war --- victory, defeat, strategy, tactics, loyalty, warriors, chain of command. Athletes who change teams are often derided as traitors.
In this paradigm, it has always been the warrior class that the people saw as their champions, but also the class that most needed to be subjugated and controlled, subject to discipline, banishment for failure to perform, and disposed of when their value diminished. The warrior class has also, most often, been attractive to those who had the least opportunity elsewhere in society. The line is short, and very clear, between communities of color and lesser opportunity, and professional sports.
It's even shorter and clearer when it comes to who is in charge, and how that power is wielded. It's one thing to complain about $100 tickets to pro games, and to marvel at the spectacle of the Super Bowl. But there's something disturbingly corrosive underpinning all this, and we appear to be unwilling or unable to see it.
24
In Oakland, CALIFORNIA, far from the ‘madding crowd,’ only “Take me out to the ballgame,” is played during the 7th inning stretch.
No one has yet been vilified for this as far as I know.
28
For me, this is an incredibly powerful article. Even though I'm not particularly "sportish," I use to enjoy going to baseball games, but after 9/11, going to the park, as this article accurately describes, became and remains nothing more than a nationalistic-propaganda opportunity for the jingoists and war-lovers among us. It seems to have become a test of one's loyalty to the military welfare complex. "Stand up, sing, worship or be shunned!"
All the "thank you for your service" nonsense and the singing of the obnoxious national anthem should be done somewhere else. Can't a ball game just be a ball game?
390
When they play the national anthem for a singalong, I always substitute the original lyrics to the tune, "To Anacreon in Heaven." The chorus is, "And I shall instruct thee like me to entwine/ The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine."
12
The military and patriotism have been co-opted and fetishised for years now and it keeps ratcheting up. "God Bless America" is not our national anthem, yet we are expected to act as though it is. MLB and the NFL, in particular, merchandise everything with a camo or stars and stripes pattern. Every sporting event has a "support the troops" moment, which in itself is nice, but should you be looked at as a heel if you use that break to run to the men's room? Please.
136
I don't know what happens in sports stadiums other than the few I have personally visited during my lifetime (70 years)... the playing of the Star Spangled Banner before the start of the game has been di rigeur for as long as I can recall. Anybody who failed to stand for the anthem got dirty looks from some fans. End of fake display of patriotic zeal.
Post 9/11, soccer games, football games, baseball games have opened with the anthem and contingents of people in uniform led by somebody waving an enormous flag as they marched or ran to the center of field and stood saluting the flag and listening to the anthem. These displays undoubtedly helped contribute to the morale of active duty troops in Afghanistan and Iraq as they destroyed those countries and began the current cycle of chaos in the Middle East. At least for the first few months after the invasion until the troops deployed in those wars began to see the futility of their efforts, the foolish "goals" they were expected to achieve, and the lack of appreciation by the people to whom they thought they were bringing American freedoms and values.
13
Its the "patriotic" merchandising that I find especially ugly. When did the American flag get prostituted into some cheap junk from China? What's it saying? I spend 2 dollars and therefore I'm a patriot?
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Really, guys, if the military needs younguns that much, let em bring back the draft. Militarizing sports is unfortunately too easy to do, and too easy to turn ugly. Paramilitary thugs started out in Russia as white racist football gangs. I live in a small town where both love of sports and military service are widely shared and respected. We have already turned the Olympics into an us-vs.-them nation-vs.-nation competition, and big athletics is too deeply involved in higher ed. Semi-subliminal recruiting campaigns at sporting events get at ordinary people in ways they can't begin to deal with. Of course we always need more soldiers because of our endless state of war, c'ompounded by calling even non-wars wars (war against drugs, war against cancer, war, war, war ...). But who actually experiences the war first-hand? Only a few guys/gals that become a "burden" when they're back home. Do we need all these wars? If we don't have enough soldiers, maybe we can have peace. Or lower the standards for military recruitment, and get a military suited to doing nothing but scaring the bejeezus out of the rest of us.
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Really? it was a good thread that unraveled when he mentioned the people in uniform that died as though the other lives, a vastly larger number, did not matter. Phooey!
I noticed that too. But I’m sure the author never meant to imply what you read into it.
5
Since 9/11/01 a mere 0.75 % of Americans have volunteered to wear the military uniform of any American armed force. No member of the House of Trump has ever been among them.
The rest of us pretend to be brave, honorable and patriotic by rising and singing the National Anthem and saluting the flag while being entertained at a private for profit NCAA, MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL sporting event. Singing the National Anthem should be limited to official government and international sporting events. Singing the team song should be the norm for private sporting events.
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It’s a sign of our times that patriotism is associated with racial prejudice. It’s debated whether Trump is a reflection of our society - at least the society of his base - or a cause of our divisions, but it’s beyond debate that MAGA is a synonym for Make America White Again. Why should sports be exempt from the divisions that have come to define us?
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Thank you Howard Bryant. I've been arranging to be at a concession stand during the National Anthem. Not because I hate the Flag or America but because I'm disgusted by the use of it to stifle dissent and the very freedom it represents. I feel cowardly for not doing more. Good on Colin.
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Howard Bryant wrote: " . . . when the World Trade center fell. It changed many things. For *ANY* American born after, say, 1985, it became the most defining day of their life — their Pearl Harbor, their Cold War, their Vietnam and Watergate."
ANY American? Sadly, Bryant commits the often-criticized Baby Boomer mistake of assigning defining moments to other U.S. generations and, in doing so, he gives those generations no say in the matter. Bryant tells them what to think and to feel.
Contrary to Bryant's over-generalization, a biracial Post-Millennial born in 1995 and in college classrooms today has no vivid recollection of 9/11. More importantly, the majority of high school students today weren't even alive when 9/11 happened. To ignore their experiences is to demean them.
When others exist who don't conform to your theory of the world, Mr. Bryant, you shouldn't outright erase their existence. One should try *at the very least* to acknowledge their being.
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That was your takeaway from this essay? Wow.
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@SPB: "That was your takeaway from this essay? Wow."
Nope, I clearly did not claim that was the main point of Bryant's essay. Your reply is a textbook example of the Straw Man fallacy. Nice try.
I also noticed this change about ten years ago. The military has infused sports with their propaganda. I wish this was getting more attention, and I believe you are the only person with a national platform that has commented on this disturbing change. I wonder, are we the only two people in America to have noticed this obvious and dramatic change?
15
Great article hi-lighting the paid patriotism at sporting events.
Here is some more info:
“Until 2009, no NFL player stood for the national anthem because players actually stayed in the locker room as the anthem played,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith explained in 2016. “The players were moved to the field during the national anthem because it was seen as a marketing strategy to make the athletes look more patriotic. The United States Department of Defense paid the National Football League $5.4 million between 2011 and 2014, and the National Guard $6.7 million between 2013 and 2015 to stage onfield patriotic ceremonies as part of military-recruitment budget line items.”
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/pentagon-paid-nfl-displays-patriotism/
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What a terrific, thoughtful article.
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This is just a rant. Sports are not divisive. Plenty of people in this country are patriotic and support the military. Even some NYT readers. The criticism of the anthem kneeling is not racist. People who are patriotic just think that protesting during the anthem is the wrong time to protest. Plenty of them support the message of the protesters. Of course the word "patriotic" is not in favor with many newspaper editors.
3
In fact, the national anthem is exactly the right place to protest and draw attention to questions, especially when the anthem itself is being co-opted by the pig-sty section of business owners to further their profits.
After all, isn't our anthem the only one that asks questions? And the questions remain valid and timely ones.
16
Having compassion for soldiers who face difficult life choices is fine. But it is not synonymous with supporting the military, nor is it necessary to support the military in order to be deemed patriotic. I emphatically disagree with your thesis, just as I emphatically dissent from offering support to our bloated Department of Aggression.
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The Trumpist claim that black athletes kneeling in protest during our National Anthem was an insult to "the troops" got traction because there was already significant, mostly unspoken, white sports fan resentment of blacks taking over professional football and basketball and getting rich doing it.
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A very fine piece, but why does the lead-in to this article on the home page suggest that: "Everyone wants to blame black athletes, but the real story begins with how games were remade after 9/11. "
Not everyone blames black, kneeling, athletes do they? I thought only racists like Trump and many NFL owners placed the blame there? Everyone?
23
Excellent article.
3
I agree 100%. I would add that it's not just sports that has been militarized, but much of American society. As just one example, the military has become the go-to tool to solve every problem, like the man with a hammer to whom every problem looks like a nail. Beyond that, I am old enough to remember the Vietnam era, when veterans were at best ignored and at some (hopefully rare) times vilified for the misguided war that multiple mendacious administrations foisted on the public and (most of them) were involuntary conscripted to fight. Now, we have a press secretary who suggests it is unpatriotic to question the veracity of an ex-general (when, in my experience, generals are generally no more or less honest than business and political leaders).
To the point, neither approach (glorifying or shunning) is correct. The military has a role to play in a democratic society, and deserves appropriate respect for the role it serves, but the pendulum has swung much too far, IMHO.
21
It started with the "support our troops" campaign during Desert Shield, the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War. As if there were still ghosts of Vietnam-era protesters attacking our soldiers, the campaign tried to strike a middle ground: if you can't support the war, at least support our troops. And in the years following the Gulf War, it would get carried away, to the point where all Americans were expected to demonstrate support for the military at all public events, whether in peacetime or wartime.
I agree with the point of this article that enough is enough.
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Ironically (if that is the right word for this), "Support Our Troops, Bring them Home" was a popular slogan in the Anti-Vietnam War movement. Somehow GHWB's people managed to co-opt the first part without acknowledging the second part. The implication was and is "Support Our Troops - Shut up and Stop Questioning What the Generals Are Telling the Troops to do".
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I strongly support our troops and even the mostly professional military that respects the authority of the civilian leadership. I advocate raising my own taxes to better support them after they get home.
I don't respect politicians that manipulate this support to push unconstitutional and unwise aggression all around the world, and the use of the military as a profit center for corporations they own shares in.
Now politicians in office regularly own shares in corporations that have government contracts, and go back and forth between government positions and executive jobs at these corporations, and push government policies that raise the value of their shares.
The Revolving Door is now a sad monument to the wall that used to separate private profits from government policy.
12
Thank you, Mr. Bryant...I wish this essay could be published in every newspaper and magazine in the USA....and read by everyone. And re-read. It's necessary, folks.
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The connection between the military and sports is pre-cognitive. Even before 9/11 football people invoked the war metaphor. 9/11 made it more explicit and suffocatingly omnipresent.
that's for sure, and thanks to Mr. Bryant for writing this article. However, to me, the really irritating thing about these commercials for the military at sporting events is the equating of militarism with patriotism. When Colin first started kneeling, the reaction wasn't, "He doesn't love our country." It was rather, "He is insulting our military men and women."
61
Football and military are a natural fit. Both strategic, male dominated where females are seen as adornment, and utterly violent. Connection the two is divisive and wrong.
9
Great article.
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