Athletes must be compelled to honor the flag. Those who don’t are disrespecting all those who fought proudly for those colors.
No, we are not talking about the red, white, and blue. We are talking about the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. And black and brown. And pink and sky blue. And whatever other colors that have been thrown onto the gay pride flag this month.
A number of players for the Tampa Bay Rays declined to wear a rainbow version of the team logo on the team’s “Pride Night,” citing their religious beliefs. Their stance hasn’t been met with quite the same media praise as athletes protesting the American flag because they don’t understand police shooting data or because they don’t like former President Donald Trump. Yet, their decision is far braver than any protest that anti-American athletes have taken part in.
During the month of June, the rainbow flag (and its assorted additions for transgender pride and Black Lives Matter) become the nation’s colors, at least in the eyes of every major corporation and institution that is not explicitly conservative. While corporations fawn over athletes who protest the Stars and Stripes and team owners have been cowed into praising or defending those protests, nearly every team and business adopt rainbow logos for the entire month.
Those Rays players better fit the liberal narrative of patriotic dissent than Colin Kaepernick’s disciples, if only because they are actually dissenting from the team and popular culture. Though maybe they were just trying to figure out what all the new colors and shapes mean. The new purple circle is anyone’s guess.
