To the editor:
In 1981, the highly paid PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) union strikers’ demand for higher wages wound up with 11,000 of them being fired by President Ronald Reagan. Why? In large part, due to little to no public support for a bunch of already exorbitantly paid air traffic controllers.
Hmm. Wonder if history will repeat itself 36 years later?
In 2017, well-paid NFL kneeling players’ demand for recognition of social ills, at the expense of honoring our nation’s flag and anthem, backfires. Why? In large part, due to little to no public support for a bunch of already exorbitantly paid football players.
Think about it. Like the already affluent air traffic controllers of yore, today’s moneyed football players can have a bully pulpit just about anywhere, anytime they desire. However, to openly “dis” their country’s flag and national anthem, by kneeling rather than standing, in very public arenas, risks their being displaced as sports heroes to social pariahs (“outcasts”), and not social change agents.
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out during the days and weeks ahead.
George Allen
Indianapolis
