Fans Demand NFL Team Raise African-American Flag in Addition to American Flag

Years from now, as we look back on this period of American history, we will likely re-encapsulate a great many events into one, easy to understand narrative that we cannot quite see from our current vantage point.

Today, it feels as though Colin Kaepernick’s anthem-kneeling protests are far removed from the death of George Floyd and the aftermath of that pivotal event.  For us here in 2020, the Black Lives Matter messages being touted by the NBA and other leagues are separate from the Kaepernick kerfuffle.

But, when the world reflects on the 2010’s and 2020’s far into the future, there is little doubt that the BLM movement will be bequeathed the entire era, and likely taught in schools as one, singular bloc in history.

Today, however, each individual instance of rapid change to society hits with the subtlety of a Mike Tyson uppercut, and creates a fresh new controversy – particularly when it comes to the world of sports.

Such is the case this week in Kansas City, where the Chiefs have been asked to raise an alternative American flag when they begin play in the coming days.

The Kansas City Chiefs have been called on to raise the African American flag as part of the franchise’s heightened sense of social justice awareness, which the league has committed to this season.

Pat Clarke, who is an activist in the Kansas City, Mo., area, wrote in a letter to the organization that the flag should be raised at Arrowhead Stadium along with the social justice messages in the end zones and the special decals that will be placed on players’ helmets, according to FOX4 KC.

“You look at the NBA, they have Black Lives Matter on the court. The coaches have it on their shirts. The players have it on their backs, but that flag flying above that says a lot right there,” Clarke said at a press conference last week.

Of the African American flag, Clarke said: “The red is for the blood, the black is for the people and the green is for the glory.”

The NFL has already committed to painting BLM-inspired quotes in the end zones and playing the Black National Anthem before the first games of the season.