‘Neither the NFL nor any organization should let protests or riots be an excuse to encourage this unpatriotic behavior…’
(Liberty Headlines, Michael Barnes) Contrary to what’s portrayed in the mainstream news media, there is plenty of viewpoint diversity in the black community—and the pro-American activist group Project 21 let the NFL know about it on Monday.
“No, Roger Goodell, disrespecting the flag is not justified,” said Horace Cooper, co-chairman of Project 21.
“Too many Americans—black, white and brown—have given their lives fighting for our nation’s flag. Neither the NFL nor any organization should let protests or riots be an excuse to encourage this unpatriotic behavior,” he said.
The backlash from the black leadership network came as a result of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s submission to the demands of activist football players.
In a social-media video meant as outreach to disgraced former quarterback Colin Kaeparnick and other players who knelt during the national anthem, Goodell said, “We were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier.”
“Will be reaching out to players who have raised their voices and others on how we can improve,” he added.
Goodell also issued an obligatory “Black Lives Matter” endorsement.
But that didn’t sit well with Project 21 member Martin Baker. In a statement, Baker said that the NFL, along with other sports leagues and large corporations, is taking a calculated risk based on the direction of current political winds.
“This is a move to ingratiate itself to the over 70 percent of the league’s players who are black. This also is an attempt to entice those younger protestors who sympathize with the struggle to buy League merchandise,” he said.
Project 21 cannot endorse political issues or engage in campaign activity due to its 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, but members like Stacey Washington and Donna Jackson are free to offer their opinions about the NFL.
“As a black mother, my heart aches every time I think of George Floyd calling out for his own mother with his last breaths of life,” said Jackson. “But kneeling against the flag in the NFL is not in earnest when its main objective is directed—as it often has been—at vilifying the president.”
While the strategy of taking an activist stance seems to have panned out for the Kaepernick-sponsored Nike and other virtue-signaling corporations, Washington noted that it may backfire by alienating a large portion of the NFL’s audience, as prior boycotts have suggested.
“The NFL is committing economic suicide. Americans don’t want politics injected into sports or entertainment,” said Washington.
“As more connections are made between the violent riots and property destruction and the Black Lives Matter movement, the NFL will grow to regret bowing to their demands,” she said.