By Barbara Howard

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of 9/11 – the attack on America by radical Islamic terrorists under the instruction of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, resulting in the horrific destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City, the partial destruction of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the downing of United Airlines Flight #93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania resulting in the senseless murder of almost 3,000 innocent Americans.

This was the day when most adults of all races, creeds and colors honored those fallen heroes.

But much of this was lost on the NFL players who chose to kneel or raise a fist and totally disrespect this country during the national anthem at the games played on national TV. They professed that this was in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick who protested the supposedly horrible “racial inequality that oppressed blacks and other minorities in this country.”

So the disrespect that San Francisco back- up quarterback Kaepernick showed by first sitting down, then kneeling during the national anthem has spread to even high school football teams.

Now I ask you, what are these multi-millionaires protesting? Most of them come from the inner city and black schools. Where was the oppression in their neighborhoods?

Did they speak out against so-called oppression in their cities? Did the so-called oppression come from the police or from the criminals and gangs in their neighborhoods? Did they come from a two-parent home or from a teenage female high school dropout-led household financed by the tax dollars of others? And what about Colin Kaepernick who grew up in a white family in a white neighborhood? Did he even know anybody who was oppressed?

And what about Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters who raised a black gloved fist during the national anthem reminiscent of the Black Panthers or the U.S. Olympic stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos whom (I had the pleasure of meeting), who raised their fists in 1968?

Did he take into account the difference in the political climate then and now? Then there were oppressive laws against us as black folk. Now we have a black man who, as POTUS for the past almost eight years, is the most powerful man in the world. So where is the oppression of which they speak?

And those four Miami Dolphins who knelt during the national anthem on 9/11 should be ashamed of themselves. They play in one of the greatest looking, wildly expensive stadiums in the country, which is housed in a city with a black mayor, an all black city council, a predominantly black police force with a young and dynamic black police chief. So where is the oppression? Where is the racial inequality?

Have these spoiled little boys with their expensive little toys spent any time or money in these so-called oppressed neighborhoods doing good works and teaching young students how to stay in school? And what does their disrespect say to other black boys with dreams of becoming rich with multi-million contracts just to play ball?

That they can finish their education, take advantage of all of the great opportunities available to them in this country and rise to the top and then turn around and spit on the flag that stands for the greatest country in the world.

What makes it so bad is that these players have been given the green light to continue this despicable behavior, while the NFL denied the Dallas Cowboys’ request for a helmet decal to honor the five police officers ambushed and murdered by Black Lives Matter enthusiast Micah Xavier Johnson on July 7th.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has a history of letting his players get away with behavior unbecoming good citizens. So letting his black players play the race card is par for the course.

That is until the white ticket holders start protesting themselves. Then watch how quickly Colin Kaepernick gets put in his place. Actions have consequences.