On Reflection | What would Trump think about Hong Kong football fans booing the Chinese anthem?
The US president would probably side with China’s Communist Party, which is to criminalise insulting ‘March of the Volunteers’ – but such a stance is self-defeating
Unless you follow American football, you may not have been aware of a strange form of protest taking place before the games. Some players have chosen to kneel, link arms or remain in their locker rooms, during the playing of the US national anthem, as a symbolic way to draw attention to the police killings of unarmed African-American men.
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WATCH: Hong Kong football fans boo their national anthem
Hong Kong has yet to follow through with its own legislation specifying what conduct might be considered an insult to the anthem. Booing is certainly likely to be considered an unacceptable affront. One lawmaker questioned whether moving, blinking or looking around during the anthem might get the fidgety offender hauled off to the pokey. Is taking a knee really an offence? The American football players involved in the US protest said kneeling was actually a reverential gesture, with the body resembling a flag flown at half-mast.
I personally dislike the pre-game protests that target The Star Spangled Banner, even while I think the underlying cause – racial injustice and police brutality against black men in America – desperately needs the spotlight of public attention. But while I disagree with the players’ form of protest, I still vigorously and enthusiastically defend their right to do it.
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First, sports figures, like actors and musicians, have long used their celebrity to draw attention to political and social causes, despite Trump’s admonition that millionaire athletes should just shut up, play the game and check their first amendment rights at the stadium gate. I remember as a 10-year-old kid in Detroit feeling a mix of astonishment and pride when athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists into a “Black Power” salute while receiving their gold and bronze medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
