Community Corner
Maine Roofers Unwitting Symbols In National Anthem Kneeling Debate
Three men who stood on a roof, their hands on their hearts as the national anthem was played at a high school football game, seen as heroes.
WATERVILLE, ME — Three roofers in Maine became unwitting heroes in the festering national debate over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem when they lay down their tools and stopped working Saturday, standing on the rooftop with their hands on their hearts as the band began playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the beginning of a nearby Waterville High School football game.
Michelle Lyons Cossar, who was attending the game, heard the crowd’s response to their act of patriotism. “Hey look!” Cosser posted on Facebook, describing the crowd’s reaction. “They aren’t kneeling.” Cosser snapped a photo and shared it on the social media site, where it was an instant hit.
One of the three men, interviewed later, said they weren’t making a statement about the NFL controversy, which started last year when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest the treatment of black Americans, particularly by police.
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“It is a respect thing for myself,” Dwayne Harrison, one of the three men in the photo told Fox News. “We did not do this to prove a point.” (For more stories like this, subscribe to your local Maine Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you live elsewhere, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
Also in the photo were Danny Thyng and James Scruggs.
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Cossar, who took the photo, told Fox she “just thought the world could use a little more of that right now.”
The debate over standing for the national anthem has escalated in recent weeks and become increasingly political. President Trump has attempted to reframe the issue as disrespectful to America’s soldiers and the U.S. flag, which was never the intent of Kaepernick nor other NFL players who have taken up the mantle of his protest.
The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017
On Wednesday, after the NFL declined sanctions against players who kneel during the national anthem, Trump tweeted the decision showed “total disrespect for our great country.” The decision came despite assertions earlier by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that he believes everyone should stand for the national anthem and that the protest has become a barrier to honest conversations about race relations in the United States.
On Oct. 8, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, walked out of an NFL game in Pence’s home state of Indiana after several members of the 49ers, who were playing the Indianapolis Colts, knelt as “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played. He said on Twitter that he would “not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag or our National Anthem.”
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
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