{"id":1312164,"date":"2019-07-07T19:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T01:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/thiessen-column-megan-rapinoes-anthem-protests-hurt-the-fight-for-gender-equity\/"},"modified":"2019-07-08T07:51:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T13:51:28","slug":"thiessen-column-megan-rapinoes-anthem-protests-hurt-the-fight-for-gender-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/thiessen-column-megan-rapinoes-anthem-protests-hurt-the-fight-for-gender-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"Thiessen column: Megan Rapinoe\u2019s anthem protests hurt the fight for gender equity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Marc A. Thiessen<\/strong>
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Nike has withdrawn a new Independence Day-themed shoe featuring the Revolutionary War-era flag after former NFL quarterback and Nike-endorser Colin Kaepernick complained that the flag was a symbol of the slave era, according to the Wall Street Journal. Nike offered a lame excuse that it had removed the shoe from retailers because \u201cit featured an old version of the American flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, it featured the American flag that was actually in use in 1776 on the original Fourth of July, and it is named for the pioneering Founding Mother to whom its design is commonly attributed, Betsy Ross. As it happens, a version of that very flag was carried into battle by Union troops fighting to abolish slavery during the Civil War.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Kaepernick, who blew up his NFL career by refusing to stand for the national anthem at games, is not alone in his hostility to patriotic symbols. Megan Rapinoe, the co-captain of the U.S. national women\u2019s soccer team, refuses to place her hand over her heart with the rest of her team when the national anthem is played at the World Cup in Lyon, France. \u201cI\u2019ll probably never put my hand over my heart,\u201d she told Yahoo Sports. \u201cI\u2019ll probably never sing the national anthem again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says she is taking a stand against President Trump \u2014 sending an \u201cF you\u201d to his administration. But she started protesting the anthem in solidarity with Kaepernick in September 2016, before Trump was elected, when she played for the Seattle Reign in the National Women\u2019s Soccer League.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear: Rapinoe is an amazing athlete. Her heroics in the quarterfinal against France were a wonder to watch. And she has every right to express her displeasure with the Trump administration. Many Americans have legitimate grievances with the president.<\/p>\n

But Rapinoe is not playing for the Trump administration; she is playing for the United States. It\u2019s one thing for a professional athlete to protest the national anthem, but quite another for a member of Team USA to do it. Rapinoe is protesting the Stars and Stripes while wearing the Stars and Stripes. That\u2019s not OK. Representing your country is a privilege, not a right. If she really feels she can\u2019t show respect for the U.S. flag and anthem, then she shouldn\u2019t wear the U.S. jersey.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the worst part. What she\u2019s doing is selfish. Her protest comes at a time when the U.S. women\u2019s team has taken an important stand against gender discrimination. They are suing the U.S. Soccer Federation because, despite being more successful on the field than the men\u2019s team, and bringing in more revenue, they are paid significantly less than the men. They have a point, and the World Cup is a chance to rally the country behind their cause.<\/p>\n

But instead of unifying Americans behind her team\u2019s admirable fight for gender equity, Rapinoe is dividing Americans with her anthem protests. Untold numbers of Americans who might have been inspired to support the team\u2019s cause have been alienated by its leader.<\/p>\n

In 2017, at the height of the NFL anthem protests, polls showed that 64% of Americans said athletes should \u201cbe respectful during the national anthem,\u201d while just 24% disagreed. Considering that only 42% of Americans approve of Trump, that means there are millions of Americans who, like Rapinoe, don\u2019t like the president, but also don\u2019t like athletes protesting during the anthem. Why drive these Americans away? How does that help the cause of gender equity in sports? Answer: It doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Rapinoe has also said that if Team USA wins its fourth World Cup title, \u201cI\u2019m not going to the f\u2014 White House.\u201d Good for her. Lots of athletes have refused White House invitations from Republican and Democratic presidents alike. She has every right to stay home if she wins. But she does not have the right to protest the U.S. national anthem when playing for the U.S. national team.<\/p>\n

During the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, U.S. coach John Tortorella announced that \u201cIf any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game.\u201d Asked why, Tortorella told ESPN: \u201cIt is probably the most disrespectful thing you can do as a U.S. citizen.\u201d He noted that \u201cthere are men and women that give their lives for their flag,\u201d and those who have suffered \u201ctraumatic physical injuries, traumatic mental injuries.\u201d Their service and sacrifice, Tortorella said, make it possible for athletes to play a game for a living.<\/p>\n

He was right.<\/p>\n

Follow Marc A. Thiessen on Twitter, @marcthiessen. (c) 2019, The Washington Post Writers Group<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marc A. ThiessenAAA WASHINGTON \u2014 Nike has withdrawn a new Independence Day-themed shoe featuring the Revolutionary War-era flag after former NFL quarterback and Nike-endorser Colin Kaepernick complained that the flag was a symbol of the slave era, according to the Wall Street Journal. Nike offered a lame excuse that it had removed the shoe from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 07:24:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1312182,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312164\/revisions\/1312182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}