A collection of Major League Baseball players has started kneeling for the national anthem as baseball makes its return to live games. Comments from Angels reliever Keynan Middleton stood out: “Through this, I strive to be a voice for unity.”

One would think that the persistence of these protests and the resistance to them would dispel any notion of them being unifying. In 2018, 54% of voters opposed the protests, and even after a nationwide push by athletes and the media to make the protests acceptable, a sizable minority, 36%, still oppose them, with 12% unsure.