Texas Chancellor Sends Gentle Reminder that He Would Like Student Athletes to Respect the Flag

Chancellor McRaven: "The nation and everything it strives for is embodied in the American Flag". Well said. pic.twitter.com/fixOYdZFCQ
— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) September 8, 2016

Embedded in the above tweet is letter that former US Navy admiral and current chancellor of the University of Texas Bill McRaven wrote to school administrators and athletic directors urging them to remind teams not to exercise their constitutionally protected rights to free speech. In so doing, he paints a lovely picture of an America where servicemen like him helped "eliminate bigotry, racism, sexism, imperialism, communism, and terrorism." And you know who was riding shotgun the whole time? The American flag.

"The flag rode with the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th, 10th, 24th and 25th Cavalry and Infantry Regiments. It was carried by the suffragists down the streets of New York City. It flew with the Tuskegee Airman of WWII. It was planted in the fields where Cesar Chavez spoke. It marched with Martin Luther King Jr. It rocketed into space on the shoulder patches of women, gays, Hispanic, Asian and African American astronauts. Today it waves high over the White House. it is a flag for everyone, of every color, of every race, of every creed, and of every orientation. But the privilege of living under this flag does not come without cost. Nor should it come without respect."

McRaven reasons that since the American flag marched with quite possibly the most recognized advocate of civil disobedience this side of Gandhi, Texas student athletes should not engage in their own form of peaceful protest because it would be disrespectful. "We must have a common bond; some symbol that reminds us of our past struggles and propels us to a brighter, more enlightened future," he continues. "That symbol is the American flag."

Here is a particularly chickenshit portion of the letter:

"I spent 37 years defending freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Nothing is more important to this democracy. Nothing! However, while no one should be compelled to stand, they should recognize that by sitting in protest to the flag they are disrespecting everyone who sacrificed to make this country what it is today—as imperfect as it might be."

Gotta love that "however" pivot. Freedom of speech is totally cool. However, if I don't personally like the speech you are free to make, it's disrespectful and should be avoided.

The entire purpose of this letter was to send a passive-aggressive message to his administrators and student-athletes, unilaterally speaking for and projecting an emotion on a diverse group of people, in order to guilt student-athletes into abstaining from doing something they would be well within their rights to do.

Texas, of course, is public university, so even if chancellor McRaven expressly forbade sitting for the anthem, the student-athletes could tell him to kick rocks. My personal advice to any Texas student athlete? Print this letter out and burn it. You could then even use it to light the American flag on fire if you so choose, because that is your constitutional right and it can't be abridged by the chancellor of an enormous state school system who doesn't even understand what freedom of speech means.