The National Football League’s decision to play a “Black National Anthem” before its first regular season game is a mistake that will worsen the racial tensions it seeks to relieve. Playing two anthems reinforces the idea that people with darker skin are different from “the rest of us.” So different, in fact, that “they” need “their own” anthem. Will the NFL introduce separate drinking fountains next? The league’s plan resurrects Jim Crow, a racial caste system that civil rights leaders fought and died to end and which the Supreme Court finally corrected with the reminder that “annoyances, some petty and some substantial, almost inevitably accompany segregation.” Worse yet, an unintended consequence of a “Black National Anthem” is that it hands a convenient argument to racists. If race justifies accommodation, then it can be used to justify discrimination as well. YOU CAN'T UNITE BY DIVIDING In 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, a third-grade teacher...

In an opinion piece today ( NFL Players Succumb to Protest Pressure ), ESPN's Howard Bryant tries to shame NFL players for wimping out and giving up on their anthem protests because of fan opposition. He writes, "The players have clearly succumbed to the prolonged hostility to their cause and suffer a terribly absent sense of self." But, he badly misses the point. Fans are not hostile to the players' "cause." Quite the contrary. Millions of NFL fans agree that racially motivated police brutality is wrong and we shou ld all work to prevent it. But disrespecting our country is not the solution to the problem. Fans object to the players protest METHOD. By kneeling for the anthem, players put fans in an impossible position. Fans could either support the players' cause OR respect their country. They couldn't do both. When forced to choose, most fans prioritized their country ahead of NFL players' cause le jour. If they're smart, players wi...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 29, 2018 CONTACT Greg Stielstra greg.stielstra@gmail.com 615-812-3821 Franklin, TN ​ Nashville songwriter to donate proceeds from new song to AmVets to help compensate for the NFL’s rejection of its Super Bowl ad Greg Stielstra announced today that he will donate proceeds from sales of his song  I Stand  to the AmVets national headquarters. Donations will include all revenue generated by sales through iTunes between January 29 and February 28, 2018. Stielstra wrote and produced the song hoping it would help resolve NFL anthem protests, but saw an opportunity to help servicemen and women when the NFL rejected the fundraising ad AmVets planned to run in the Super Bowl program. “I had other plans for the song, but called an audible. I thought it was unfair of the NFL to allow its players to kneel for the anthem, but reject the AmVets ad politely asking people to #PleaseStand,” Stielstra said, “Especially when th...

Colin Kaepernick began sitting for the anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality. Ironically, if he had understood how the anthem supported civil rights through the years, he might have chosen to protest differently.  THE BEGINNING - America's struggle for independence from England did not end in 1776.  It was won incrementally over many years and nearly lost during the War of 1812.  In August of 1814 the British army marched into Washington DC and set fire to the capitol building and White House. Their next target was the vital seaport of Baltimore whose harbor was protected by Fort McHenry.  If it fell, the future of our new nation would be in doubt. The entire British fleet assembled off shore and bombarded Fort McHenry with canons and rockets for 25 hours.  Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet had gone aboard a British warship to negotiate a prisoner exchange when the bombardment began and remained on board all night....

Sharing AmVets Release Re: #PleaseStand NFL Rejects AMVETS Super Bowl ad requesting that people ‘Please Stand’ AMVETS National Headquarters, Jan. 22, 2018  – The National Football League, amid controversy surrounding its players kneeling in protest during the National Anthem, has refused to run  an ad by American Veterans (AMVETS)  in the official Super Bowl program because of its simple, two-word message – “Please Stand.” In a January 22 letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell , AMVETS National Commander Marion Polk wrote, “freedom of speech works both ways. We respect the rights of those who choose to protest, as these rights are precisely what our members have fought — and in many cases died — for. But imposing corporate censorship to deny that same right to those veterans who have secured it for us all is reprehensible and totally beyond the pale.” The same ad was accepted by both the NHL and NBA and is slated to run in the official programs for eac...

Do More Than Stand. Take Steps. Do you wish NFL players stood for the national anthem?  Are you sad that their protest makes it seem patriotism and social justice are at odds when they're not?  Wish you could do something about it?  You can. Here are ways you can promote I Stand and its message. 1. Share the I Stand lyric video on your social media.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh9tUn1Q-2U 2.  Like and then SHARE the I Stand Song Facebook page. 3. Send an email to your contacts telling them about I Stand.  Invite them to visit the website at  https://istandsong.blogspot.com/ to hear the song, watch the music video and learn more. 4. Buy a copy of the song, give it to your local high school and suggest they play it during pregame warm ups before sporting events as a reminder to stand when the anthem is played. It's available on iTunes.  http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1332181131?ls=1&app=itunes 5. Share the link to b...