Watkins Mill Football Team Locking Arms to Support U.S. Military After Receiving Backlash for Kneeling During National Anthem (VIDEOS)
One of the captains from the Watkins Mill High School football team attended the Youth Town Hall meeting in Rockville on Wednesday night where he explained why some members of his team are taking a knee before their Friday night football games. He also said the team is considering locking arms at this week’s game.
“We want to show the military that we are not disrespecting them or disrespecting America,” said Watkins Mill football player Brian McNeary.
“This peaceful protest was not designed to hurt, disrespect or offend any individuals or groups, specifically our veterans and our police officers,” said McNeary.
Brian is one of five captains on the football team and a senior at Watkins Mill High School. He told the council about other issues students of color are having in their community.
“We face challenges that not everyone goes through on a daily basis,” said McNeary. “We get followed around stores and profiled while we’re just walking down the street or around the corner from our school.”
Montgomery County Councilmembers applauded the young man for standing up and speaking about his experiences.
“I congratulate you for taking a stand for social justice as a high school student,” said Councilmember George Leventhal. “The struggle for social justice is a lifelong struggle. There will always be an opportunity for you to be heard.”
“One of the things we need to work on in this county is the fact that we have a lot of disparities in Montgomery County,” said Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro.
McNeary said in addition to locking arms for the military on Friday, the team has more plans in the works to help the local community. They’re planning “socktober”, which is a sock drive for the homeless in the coming weeks.
“We want to show the community we’re not just taking a knee without doing anything to back it up,” said McNeary.
Also at the Youth Town Hall meeting, the football coach of Watkins Mill High School. He told MyMCMedia that he’s proud students are standing up for justice and supports his players.
Yea….that really makes up for their disrespect and arrogance.
They should all be expelled
*sarcasm off*
These young men realize that the flag and the anthem of which a stanza is missing (Google is free look it up) are but symbols of our GOVERNMENT. One cannot disrespect a symbol because it cannot FEEL the disrespect. What is happening is that the bull that is taught to children about the origins of this country is not the full and complete story. So a lot of them has this false sense of patriotism that is but a an abstract until a lot of them deal with the reality of the institutionalized and systemic racism and bias when they go about their daily activities. The First Amendment guarantees a citizen the right to speech and expression. You do not have to like it and that is your right but you cannot infringe upon their right to do it. Kids today cannot be spoonfed misinformation in this great technological age. They know how to conduct research and critically think if they are being taught correctly. You should do the same.
Your argument fails from the start. Our flag and Anthem are symbols of our country, not merely our government.
“One cannot disrespect a symbol because it cannot FEEL the disrespect.”
People can certainly feel it. The American Soldier salutes that flag and anthem, wears that flag with pride on the uniform, and when the end comes is laid to rest with honor beneath it. That flag is then handed to the fallen Soldier’s family as a remembrance and sign of respect for their sacrifice made for this country. To disrespect our flag or our anthem is to disrespect our country and the people who put their lives on the line to serve it and its citizens. Much like people, those symbols cannot be defined simply by their origin, but rather must be by what they are today.
“The First Amendment guarantees a citizen the right to speech and expression. You do not have to like it and that is your right but you cannot infringe upon their right to do it.”
The 1st Amendment guaranteed this same right to those publicly critical of BLM’s illegal violence and repeated lies, but many of them have lost their jobs over it, and students just like these have been among the most vocal in demanding such retaliations.
I don’t consider expulsion appropriate, but it would still be the substantially lesser of the retaliations inflicted over people taking a stance on this controversy. It’s the most absurd sort of hypocrisy for anyone to hide behind Freedom of Speech for their own protests while simultaneously pushing for adverse consequences against anyone who so much as does a humorous riff on BLM’s motto? (I.E. The pizza place that did an ad saying “Black Olives Matter”). #BLM is a symbol, if they can feel anger and disrespect at it being disregarded, misused, or exploited, than they should be able to understand that others feel much the same when our National Anthem, our Flag, and our protectors who live and die in our service are likewise disregarded, slandered, and exploited.
“Kids today cannot be spoonfed misinformation in this great technological age.”
Sure they can. That’s why university faculty is overwhelmingly liberals, as are most major media outlets. Tyrannies and propagandists throughout the centuries have recognized that controlling information is the key to controlling the populace. Having access to the correct data from other sources means little when these special snowflakes aren’t willing to use them, to have the veiws of their cozy social cliques challenged, or to credit their ideological opponents with the legitimacy to even make arguments.
“They know how to conduct research and critically think if they are being taught correctly.”
See point above. In most schools, they aren’t being taught correctly. Critical Thinking and Structured Analytic Techniques are my own field of professional expertise. New students entering the workforce fresh out of school, with or without degrees, regularly arrive in my care without even the foundational understanding of either.