Letters: Sept. 28, 2017

What planet?

Our poor Coach Leach is baffled about why hundreds, if not thousands, of NBA, NFL, and college sports players are expressing themselves by taking the knee during the National Anthem, or locking arms, or just staying off the field during the anthem (WSU and UW players do this as a matter of course). Leach said in a televised interview yesterday, “I haven’t gotten a real clear articulation of what’s being protested or what’s being objected to.”

What planet is he living on? Or is he just reflecting ultra right-wing obliviousness to the racial inequality in this country.

Not all right-wingers are as obtuse about our societal problems.

Even Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys and a Trump supporter, understands that there are horrifying racial prejudices which influence police behaviors, jailing ratios, hiring policies and educational opportunities throughout our country.

We are working for solutions, and sports figures are at the forefront today.

In spite of a 3-0 record in coaching this season, Coach Leach could pay a bit of attention to why athletes are up in arms.

Here is a quote from one of Colin Kaepernick’s former teammates, Eric Reid, on the 49ers:

"A few weeks later, during preseason, my teammate Colin Kaepernick chose to sit on the bench during the national anthem to protest police brutality. To be honest, I didn’t notice at the time, and neither did the news media. It wasn’t until after our third preseason game on Aug. 26, 2016, that his protest gained national attention, and the backlash against him began.

"That’s when my faith moved me to take action. I looked to James 2:17, which states, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” I knew I needed to stand up for what is right.

"I approached Colin the Saturday before our next game to discuss how I could get involved with the cause but also how we could make a more powerful and positive impact on the social justice movement. We spoke at length about many of the issues that face our community, including systemic oppression against people of color, police brutality and the criminal justice system. We also discussed how we could use our platform, provided to us by being professional athletes in the N.F.L., to speak for those who are voiceless." (New York Times, Op-ed, Sept. 25, 2017, by Eric Reid)

I certainly cannot say it better than Reid. It’s time for Coach Leach to move on from the underdog heroics of GERONIMO (1829-1909), on whom he is an authority and who died a prisoner of war in an Oklahoma hospital, to the twenty-first century, where we have a dire need to equalize opportunities for peoples of all incomes, all colors and all religions.

Nicolas Kiessling,

Pullman