Counterproductive David Brooks Analysis

In an attempt to persuade high school football players against following the footsteps of Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who refused to stand up for the playing of the American national anthem during their games to protest against systemic racism in the United States, David Brooks, in his article “The Uses of Patriotism,” calls Kaepernick’s actions “extremely counterproductive” as it creates a “crisis of solidarity.” To Brooks, sitting during the national anthem demonstrates a lack of gratitude to America’s ancestors and their legacy, and the loss of a sense that “we’re all in this together.” Throughout the article, he emphasizes on the importance of patriotism in the maintenance of the nation. He cites that the American
He uses the line “all men are created equal” from the 1776 Deceleration of Independence to justify his patriotism, which often incites violence towards those deemed to be a threat to the nation, such as black resistance. In Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson, he questions the authenticity of the existence of that sentiment. If all men were created equal and are given the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then how is it acceptable for black people to be forced into servitude? Moreover, when the American people faced similar circumstances with the British rule, they fought to gain sovereignty and freedom because they recognized the cruelty of such state. Banneker thus questioned Jefferson’s inability to correlate that experience with the current state of black people, considering Jefferson to be guilty of the “most criminal act” in which he supposedly detested. Therefore, for Brooks to say that this moral premise from the Declaration of Independence is universally accepted without contestation, even from centuries ago, shows how the history of black people, particularly slavery, is easily diminished by dominant media discourse.
Furthermore, the Declaration of Independence explicitly states that in order to secure such rights, the people have the authority to retract the consent given to the government to be ruled and when the government becomes destructive, they can “alter or abolish it, and … institute new Government.” This was based on the American Revolution, which basically demanded for the same values as Kaepernick; liberty and a just government. So to deem Kaepernick’s defiant act, and those who follow him, as “counterproductive” is antithetical to the