No surprise; pouring salt on the wound of racism won't help it heal

[pokerfan]

Editorial from the alternative weekly in Spokane, this guy gets it...

(Apologies for its being two weeks old but it's too good not to share.)

Bowing to Lincoln
Robert Herold

Engaging in cheap political theater, Mike Pence left the stadium in Indianapolis — on the same day that Indiana's hero of heroes, Peyton Manning, was to be honored. Doing his best Trump dance, he registered disapproval of football players who were making a quiet protest against what they perceive to be government-sponsored violations of everything the American flag is supposed to stand for. The players who take a knee are protesting what they regard to be hypocritical sanctimony: police brutality that goes unpunished, white violence that is tolerated, voter suppression that is ignored, even promoted — all vestiges of America's original sin.

Perhaps they were also protesting the narcissistic occupant of the White House, who yowls about how their concerns over serious head injuries are ruining the game.

Might we at least put the national anthem into perspective? It wasn't even original music. It was an old British drinking club song that could be sung only after one had downed several pints. It has been the official anthem only since 1931, and the choice was controversial. It was opposed for its racist overtones and its militancy (message: there is more to patriotism than making war). It was opposed for the support it was getting from the segregated South.

More: https://www.inlander.com/spokane/bowing-to-lincoln/Content?oid=611403