One of the first things you are taught in kindergarten is to treat others how you would like to be treated. Apparently, no one ever let our president in on the secret.
Recently, prominent NFL players have been putting the attention placed on them to good use and taking a stand against President Donald Trump — or rather, not taking a stand. They have been refusing to stand during the national anthem which is traditionally played before the start of major sporting events. Instead, players have been kneeling on the field in order to show their disapproval of Trump’s behavior or to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
As expected, Trump retaliated against the unspoken protest in a way that was shameful and ignominious not only to our nation but to himself as well. He spent most of a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, on Friday night talking about the NFL. He began by complaining about how the penalties for hard hits are ruining the game of good ol’ American football. Before long, the president revealed his real reasoning for his sudden budding interest in football.
He told his constituents if they attend a sporting event where players refuse to stand during the national anthem they should leave the stadium, and team owners should fire players who choose to kneel in protest. The part of his speech that troubles us most was the way he relayed this information to the public.
“Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
These were the words spoken by our commander in chief in reference to actual American citizens who he should be leading, governing and, most importantly, protecting. We found difficulty typing out his words even just to quote them.The fact that our president was able to speak them with such confidence and lack of remorse is a disgrace.
Peaceful protests are not treason. In fact, the right to peacefully protest is part of what makes our country so great and unique. You’re allowed to stand up for what you believe in and stand up against what you don’t. The fact that Trump is shaming citizens for doing so is nothing less than despicable.
Trump took his sweet time before half-heartedly announcing a public condemnation of the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who have been plaguing the streets of our nation in recent weeks. It took physical violence to entice Trump to speak negatively about these groups. But a silent protest? In his mind, this deserves degrading and hateful language toward the very people he should be protecting. Why was he not just as quick to speak out against groups who are actually endangering the lives of American people?
Our question for our president is this: How can you expect us to respect you when your public displays are similar to a toddler throwing a tantrum?
The cold, hard truth is our president is immature, slow-witted and disrespectful. If he won’t show respect to his constituents, why should they show respect to him?
We can see where the president was coming from with his discontent for the peaceful protests. We can also see why many Americans encouraged him when he spoke out against the players’ acts. People saw it as an act against America as a whole, not against the president.
But Trump’s position is a title, not a right. His position does not guarantee him respect nor does it give him an allowance to treat other Americans with such a lack of respect. Respect is earned, not given. This is something our president needs to learn.
