Darrell Davis: The NFL is trying to take a stand, the wrong one

Stand for the national anthem or you will be fired … or you won’t play.

Sounds like a plantation. Not an NFL team.

Yet the NFL, closely following the lead of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, looks prepared to force its players into standing for every playing of the U.S. national anthem. No protests allowed. Even though Vice-President Mike Pence just used the national anthem as a prop for his mock protest, the NFL doesn’t want anyone else to use the anthems as a platform for protests.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the players and teams need to work together to make a difference in their community. He also said the players’ protests are preventing everyone from discussing solutions.

That’s totally wrong. The players are protesting because they know, first-hand, that the United States systemically oppresses minorities. Their protests have opened the dialogue, not closed it.