It is clear that Democrats and NFL leadership realizes that NFL protests are not sustainable. 51% of Americans agree with President Trump that the National Anthem and Flag needs to be respected. The majority of the Americans are also the fans, without whom, the NFL would become irrelevant. It is, therefore, time for the NFL Leadership to step down and urgently enforce regulations to respect the National Anthem and Flag.

Even though the Patriots are suggesting they will stand this weekend, the fans should not return until the NFL leadership changes and agree to implement the regulation throughout NFL. Arguments that they were upset with the President’s remarks are not acceptable because that should not give them the right to denigrate the National Anthem or the Flag.

CNN Town Hall

Preempting a backlash by the fans, CNN prematurely organizes a town hall where they try to make a case for the players First Amendment rights and social injustice. They also unsuccessfully tried to make a case that kneeling does not disrespect the National Anthem or the Flag because people typically kneel out of respect. This is disingenuous because the optics of the protests and the original statement by Kapearnavich clearly said that he did not have pride in the Flag.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

To CNN’s credit, they did get Reverend Michael Faulkner and Mr. Hines who were mature and excellent Black leaders. They should lead the Black community at NAACP. While they recognized the need to protest, they agreed that the National Anthem and Flag was not the right place or moment to do it. On the other hand, another panelist Spike Lee was grossly insensitive and disrespectful toward the family who lost their son. While briefly acknowledging their pain, he abruptly and disrespectfully questioned them on the issue. CNN should be mindful of inviting panelists who are immature and insensitive and not capable of articulating their community’s concerns without antagonizing the other side. Both sides are deeply hurt by these protests.

Boycott until NFL enforces regulations respecting the National Anthem/Flag

Fans all around the country should not individually accept any compromise with their teams until the NFL leadership steps down and enforces the regulation to respect the National Anthem and the Flag. The People should also not arbitrarily accept that they may protest before or after the game as it will still politicize the game. Another day should be set aside at all stadiums to specifically address the social injustice faced by the community and how everyone, including the fans, can help to prevent future incidents.