You can’t very well have a conversation about these sneaker-burning (and flag-sitting) dimwits* without discussing what offends them: Kaepernick’s actions. There is no disconnect for most of us here because without the latter we wouldn’t be discussing the former.
[* I have no problem calling them this for both the ways they’re protesting Kaepernick and their inability – willful or not – to puzzle out why Kaepernick was protesting in this manner and why kneeling during the anthem is perfectly consistent with this country’s highest ideals]
I would think, and I suspect most here would agree, that the vast majority people who stand during the anthem are not motivated by racism. Nor are they standing in counter-protest to Kaepernick. Most are standing to honour the country and its ideals, as they did for decades before Bush-era conservatives turned the pre-game anthem into a festival of militarism.
There are better ways and better times to honour veterans and active service members. On the other hand, a widely televised pro football game in a league where there are a disproportionate number of African-American players, many of whom come from the same economic and social backgrounds as the black Americans getting shot by the authorities in this country, is a very appropriate place for those players to stage a peaceful BLM protest and bring attention to the issue.
