Honor courageous protest

I agree with a letter writer that many professional athletes are “prima donnas ... playing boys’ games and getting rich.”

Does this mean they should not exercise the rights all Americans have, including the right for peaceful protest and free speech?

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that burning the American flag, which I find offensive, is free speech and therefore protected. Why would kneeling during the “Star Spangled Banner” be any different?

I am a veteran who served honorably in the U.S. Navy in the mid 1970s, in part to protect every American’s civil liberties. I applaud Colin Kaepernik and any other “celebrity,” no matter their wealth and media exposure, for doing the right thing, dare I say, the courageous thing? For those who are paying attention, they are doing what we all should be doing. That is to say, calling attention to discrimination and mistreatment of a class of American citizens based on their skin pigmentation.

I have faith in a different kind of America than this letter writer. I will almost certainly die in America as a free man. Many men and women, veterans and civilians, have paid a terrible price for that. I am forever grateful.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Honor courageous protest."