San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler told the media he would not come out for the National Anthem until he feels better about the direction of America.
“I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel like there’s, I feel better about the direction of our country,” Kapler said. “So, that’ll be the step. I don’t expect it to move the needle necessarily, it’s just something that I feel strongly enough about to take that step. I think the rest of what I wrote I think explains the rest of that.”
Kapler wrote that he was taught by his father to “stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” when he believed his country was “representing its people well.” And he was taught to “protest” and stay seated when it wasn’t.
“I don’t believe it is representing us well right now,” he said.
Kapler criticized police for not acting and politicians for not representing “our interests.”
“I’m often struck before our games by the lack of delivery of the promise of what our national anthem represents,” Kapler wrote. “We stand in honor of a country where we elect representatives to serve us, to thoughtfully consider and enact legislation that protects the interests of all the people in this country and to move this country forward towards the vision of the ‘shining city on the hill.’ But instead, we thoughtlessly link our moment of silence and grief with the equally thoughtless display of celebration for a country that refuses to take up the concept of controlling the sale of weapons used nearly exclusively for the mass slaughter of human beings. We have our moment (over and over), and then we move on without demanding real change from the people we empower to make these changes. We stand, we bow our heads, and the people in power leave on recess, celebrating their own patriotism at every turn.
“Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self-congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place.”
Kapler said he wanted to drop to a knee during the anthem, but his body did not listen. But he is “not OK with the state of this country.”
“I wish I hadn’t let my discomfort compromise my integrity,” he wrote. “I wish that I could have demonstrated what I learned from my dad — that when you’re dissatisfied with your country, you let it be known through protest. The home of the brave should encourage this.”
