The current flap over NFL players taking a knee during the playing of the National Anthem has all the elements of an absurdist play written by Eugene Ionesco. To understand why I would say this, you must understand the key elements of absurdist plays:

The theatre of the absurd was a short-lived yet significant theatrical movement, centred in Paris in the 1950s. Unusual in this instance was the absence of a single practitioner spearheading the form. Largely based on the philosophy of existentialism, absurdism was implemented by a small number of European playwrights. Common elements included illogical plots inhabited by characters who appeared out of harmony with their own existence.

Such would be my take regarding both sides of the absurdist theater to which we are being subjected. As of this writing, neither side holds the moral high ground, for reasons which I will hopefully make clear. Let us begin with the Right Wing anger at the “I refuse to kneel for a racist flag” movement.

The common theme I hear from right-wing radio jocks and the assorted Conservative posters on places like Facebook is, “How dare you complain? You have it so good here in America, you ungrateful, multi-millionaire lout.” accompanied by loud demands that those protesting should perhaps leave the country and set up citizenship elsewhere. There exists in Right Wing Conservative types a strange lack of admission to any of the multitude of vile behaviors of the government of the United States has engaged in over the last two centuries. To listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and others, one would think that rather than being a nation which has in its 200+ year history unleashed waves of destruction, persecution, C.I.A sponsored and government approved assassinations, and evil behavior on the populations of other countries, we alone are the “defenders of freedom” and a literal paradise on earth for anyone lucky enough to arrive on our golden shores. Any person with a desire for truth can Google up a great number of articles which show that the United States, far from acting like a “Christian Nation,” America has behaved in a fashion which must make Satan and the minions of hell green with envy.

And it has done this not only to other peoples and countries, but to our own citizens as well. Yet the history books from which our children learn are assiduously purged of any reference to the hatred and bigotry, the wicked behavior and evil, which has been part and parcel of the United States since its beginning. Our country has become so noxious to the rest of the world that 133 other nations have banded together to fight the corrupt influence of the United States in the world. Simply put, we are not loved anymore.  Feared, yes, but no longer is this country the “Shining Beacon of Liberty on the Hill” which other countries admire and wish to emulate.

Having said this, do I need to turn to the long history of crimes and violence against black people in America?

“Well, that was then. Those days are over. These people are protesting something that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Really???  Did you somehow miss this:

Or are you just that friggin’ stupid as to believe that there is no racism left in this country? Maybe you are (probably because you are white), but black people in this country know good and damn well what such a rally means for them here in the 21st century. They know that in the eyes of a number of people, including people who have power over them such as government officials and police, they are still just “nigger.” The money that Rush Limbaugh worships does not make this go away. These NFL players understand exactly what such racism means personally for them – even if they are tolerated by whites because they provide a modicum of amusement on a Sunday afternoon. Being a football player don’t mean a thing if you are black. After reading about a continuous stream of such incidents, a wise man begins to realize that the same thing could just as easily happen to him, simply because his skin has the wrong pigmentation.

Of course, it’s not just football players. Maybe you are walking down the street and ignore a policeman’s orders to stop. Next thing you know, you are dead, despite being unarmed and running away from the police (not threatening) because you are afraid of being arrested and going to jail for failing to pay child support.

Police have been seen over and over treating white citizens more leniently than black citizens, even when the white citizen is acting in a much more violent and threatening manner. Just to be black and driving a car can mean trouble for someone who is minding his own business.

This sort of treatment has been going on for two centuries now to the black community. It has not abated, despite the bloviation of  the Right Wing about what a great country we live in and how blacks should be happy they are living here instead of some Third World hellhole in the Middle East (a hellhole which our foreign policy has helped create). How do you white conservatives not understand that in the face of racism, unwarranted police killings, and the general manner in which black people are treated, such protest was inevitable? Why do you think that because these black men are making vast sums of money in their profession they should just turn a blind eye to this? What is it about riches that makes people unsympathetic to the plight of the poor? It is as if the rich think “I have money, my life is fine. You NFL players are well off also, so why are you complaining about something that has no effect on your life? Every response I am reading from conservative blog sites and right-wing radio jocks talks about the money these NFL players are making. What these mostly rich themselves Republicans do not understand is that the issue of racism and the behaviors that attend it cut across economic lines.They miss the point entirely!

Those who are angered by these protests say that it is disrespecting the flag and our country to take a knee during the National Anthem. But how else would you suggest to make a statement against not only the racism which has pervaded this country for 200 years, but against a government that has more often than not, turned a blind eye to such actions? Respect has to be earned. It is not given just because you have a nice theory of equality for all mankind. It is given when you actually enact that belief and make your country a place of true equality. White people who are incensed at these protests have not had the experiences of prejudice, beatings, financial deprivation, and bizarre experiments conducted on their person. They cannot understand what it feels like to have the American Dream waved in front of you while so many avenues of achieving it have been kept from you. This is a simple formula around the world – if the country in which you live does not address these issues, then the flag which represents that country is treated with the disrespect you feel for the country that is doing wrong to you.

As one Black Lives Matter representative stated when invited to take the stage and speak at a pro-Trump rally,  “We are Americans. All we want is to be treated like Americans.”

I think that not too much to ask.

PART TWO – NFL – Get up off your knees and fix your neighborhoods.