Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance sparked an important conversation and debate about nationalism and American Exceptionalism – an essential conversation more Americans should have. For this, he should be commended, not admonished.
As Albert Einstein once noted, “Nationalism is an infantile disease.” Of course, the same is true today, yet I hear less and less progressive and leftwing activists say so. Why? Is nationalism the ultimate taboo in American political discourse?
When will a prominent American athlete draw attention to the millions of people of color the U.S. military has killed overseas in the name of American Exceptionalism and under the banner of the U.S. flag? That’s the conversation no one wants to have.