Laremy Tunsil joins NFL players in kneeling during national anthem

After Colin Kaepernick rightly chose to kneel during the national anthem before NFL games, many racists and idiots came out with critical response to what was a peaceful, important statement against police brutality and systemic American racism. That’s what Kap’s protest is about. Brutality and racism. Violence against people of color, unimpugned state violence at that.

Kap’s protest is strictly against racism, which is what this country was built on. On the backs of African slaves shipped here catch-style to do white people’s work.

Kap’s protest is decidedly not against the American flag. Anyone — including our moron President — that tries to argue otherwise is themselves a moron. “But the troops!” you might scream. The troops are a manifold and variegated thing. Here’s a former Marine saying that Kap’s protest is nececcesary. Chaps is good. Many of them fight for Kaepernick’s right to stand down during the national anthem. You want to shit on those troops too?

Here’s a picture of Laremy Tunsil, a wonderful and beautiful left tackle, kneeling out of solidarity with fellow Americans before Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, which the Dolphins lost, 20-6. That doesn’t matter at all, though.

Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

He kneels at left.

Hat off to Tunsil for this action. “Respecting the flag” and “respecting the anthem” before football games are perhaps the dumbest notions floated among sports fans. Sporting events are not flag-worthy at all. Nobody else in the world does this. Further, THESE ATHLETES ARE HUMAN PEOPLE. Laremy Tunsil is a real person with real political beliefs, and his political beliefs include “black people shouldn’t be killed by the police with impunity.” That’s a pertinent thing to assert.

Tunsil’s politicism is important.