Stephen Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors, this year’s NBA champion, made a public statement that he would not visit the White House because Trump disparaged professional athletes who protest by sitting down during the national anthem. He even called for them to be fired, which is illegal. Following that, Trump predictably threw a Twitter tantrum and disinvited Curry because how dare anyone refuse an invitation from the Great and Powerful Trump?
So the Golden State Warriors decided to do something else. They aren’t just snubbing Trump, they’re going to snub him in his face. They’re going to be in his city, likely while he’s there, and not visiting him. They’ll be visiting anything and anyone else there.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., has actually invited them to visit the city. Her invitation reads, in part:
Whether you’re here to work, play, practice your First Amendment rights, or lose to our Wizards, we welcome all to visit our museums, our monuments, our restaurants, and our thriving neighborhoods if they do so peacefully… While you’re here, Warriors, we are happy to identify ways for you to celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion – what we call DC values.”
The last sentence is a kicker:
#DCvalues pic.twitter.com/kQ8CrJ28el
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) September 23, 2017
It’s true that this trip was already planned. However, the last sentence of the Warriors’ official statement on the matter reads:
In lieu of a visit to the White House, we have decided that we’ll constructively use our trip to the nation’s capital in February to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion – the values that we embrace as an organization.”
The Warriors believe there’s “nothing more American than our citizens having the right to express themselves freely on matters important to them.” They’re right, and anyone who says that “disrespecting” the flag is un-American is on the road towards toxic jingoism. In America, we have ideals that don’t include worshipping symbols.
That’s what the Golden State Warriors and others who support sitting during the anthem, and other forms of protest, are getting at. Read their full statement below:
Statement from the Golden State Warriors: pic.twitter.com/6kk6ofdu9X
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) September 23, 2017
Featured image via Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
