[Conservatives are obsessed with a patriotism litmus test rigged
against Black Americans.]
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THE MAGA FAITHFUL WHO REFUSE TO CELEBRATE BRITTNEY GRINER’S RELEASE
 
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Tiffanie Drayton
December 8, 2022
THINK newsletter
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_ Conservatives are obsessed with a patriotism litmus test rigged
against Black Americans. _

Brittney Griner playing for Phoenix Mercury, (Photo: Shutterstock)

 

Brittney Griner’s release
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a Russian penal colony Thursday as part of a prisoner swap
for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout 
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met with widespread celebration. Griner was sentenced to nine years
in prison
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vape canisters and cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage at the
airport. President Joe Biden’s announcement that Griner was safely
on a plane bound for the U.S. means the gay WNBA star will
miraculously make it home to her wife and family in time for the
holidays. 

But perhaps not surprisingly, the basketball star’s release was also
met with (another) round of backlash. Many of these criticisms, which
gained traction online, have once again centered on Griner’s
perceived lack of patriotism
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But this kind of litmus test has long been rigged against Black
Americans. As with the culture war over critical race theory
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conservatives are quick to weaponize criticisms of American history or
misbehavior in an attempt to police Americanness and keep Black
advocacy against racism and white supremacy at bay.  

In 2020, amid widespread Black Lives Matter protests decrying police
brutality and racism, Griner stated that the national anthem
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be played during games and refused to be on the floor while it played.
Griner is an articulate athlete, and her intention was always clear
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“I don’t mean that in any disrespect to our country. My dad was in
Vietnam and a law officer for 30 years,” she told The Arizona
Republic at the time. “I wanted to be a cop before basketball. I do
have pride for my country.”

And yet, we have tweets proliferating across social media accusing
Griner of disrespecting the American flag (she didn’t) or kneeling
during the national anthem (also not true).

Per these conservatives, Brittney Griner doesn’t deserve our
sympathy — or even to be freed from a Russian penal colony
— because she has some reservations about the way Black people in
America have historically been treated. 

“You just freed the merchant of death in exchange for someone who
cavalierly broke the laws of the country she was visiting and won’t
even stand for the US National Anthem,” Twitter user Joe
Colangelo tweeted
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likes). 

The harsh truth, of course, is that America is not, and never has
been, a perfect country. White Americans fought tooth and nail to
preserve slavery here. Black people didn’t gain the right to vote
without enduring white violence. Schools in America weren’t
desegregated without the angry mob of white people who gathered to
jeer and spit at little Black children. 

As a result, Griner is just one of many athletes who have used their
cultural status to protest civil rights abuses. In 1996, Denver
Nuggets star Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refused to stand for the national
anthem, because he believed the flag was
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symbol of oppression, of tyranny.” Bill Russell and four other
Boston Celtics players boycotted a game in Lexington, Kentucky, after
they were refused service
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their hotel coffee shop. Players’ refusal to play in the American
Football League’s All-Star Game
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segregated New Orleans in 1965 resulted in the game’s being moved to
Houston and ultimately accelerated desegregation efforts in the Big
Easy. After declaring himself a conscientious objector to military
service, Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. war in
Vietnam, which cost him his heavyweight titles
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got him banned from boxing for three years and resulted in an
all-white jury’s sentencing him to five years in prison. Public
sentiment wasn’t in favor of Ali’s protest. Nevertheless, in 1971
the Supreme Court reversed his conviction in a unanimous vote
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proving the public’s popular opinion isn’t always aligned with
what will later be viewed as standing on the right side of history. 

Civil disobedience _is_ patriotic. Peaceful
protest _is_ patriotic. Speaking out about
injustice _is_ patriotic. Arguing otherwise, ironically, flies in
the face of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This logic has
never gelled with conservatives who support free speech — but only
when they agree with it. Black Americans like Griner, who have wealth,
power and cultural clout, are accused of treason in a transparent
attempt to silence and smear them. They are told to be good patriots
and then shouted down for exercising the fruits of that patriotism.
The game is rigged. 

In July, former President Donald Trump maligned Griner as a
“potentially spoiled person” 
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went to Russia “loaded up with drugs.” Does that make him a real
patriot? Or a washed-up politician who will do anything to try to
remain relevant? Luckily for Griner, Biden has no time for such
performative cruelty. 

There will most likely always be some white people who believe being
an American means ignoring its problems. These are the same people who
believe progress is scary and social equality is threatening. Such
outdated definitions of patriotism disgrace the national anthem and
the flag more than any peaceful protest ever could. 

Ultimately, Brittney Griner is many things. She is a Black LGBTQ
American, a wife, a daughter, an advocate, an Olympian and a
world-class basketball star. But most important, she is coming home. 

_Tiffanie Drayton is a mom and the author of “Black American
Refugee: Escaping the Narcissism of the American Dream.” _

_ReTHINK the news cycle with timely op-eds, in-depth analyses and
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* Brittney Griner
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* WNBA
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* Black athletes
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* LGBTQ rights
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* Racism
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