Staff photo by Robin Rudd/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Sep 23, 2014 Brainerd head coach Brian Gwyn walks the sidelines. The Brainerd Panthers visited the Howard Hustlin Tigers in TSSAA football action Friday Night.
Jay GreesonProtests can start discussion and truly affect change.
But among those talking points must be this simple question: "Where do we draw the line?"
Brian Gwyn, the Brainerd High School football coach, is going to lead his team in protest tonight. As written by TFP sports editor Stephen Hargis in this morning's paper, Gwyn and the Panthers will have a closed fist over their hearts tonight during the national anthem when they play at Marion County.
Gwyn said it is a designed and intended part of the protest started last month by San Francisco back-up quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
One thing missing from the details this morning is where does the Hamilton County Department of Education stand on this. Where does our public school system - a collection of folks who have roughly 60 percent of third-graders reading at the appropriate level - draw the line on what is acceptable civil disobedience from the folks who are teaching and leading our children?
Are we OK giving the social sensibility meter completely to a gym teacher or a counselor? What if any football coach, who can force players to do things they do not want to do - from running sprints to making extra efforts - decided that he wanted to protest a gender issue? Or a religious issue?
God forbid that a coach leads a team in a pregame prayer, since that will draw overwhelming interest from the Freedom of Religion folks.
Coach Gwyn, you are not an NFL coach. You are an educator, and if the HDCE lets this one teacher lead a protest, then it better be open to every teacher in every public school deciding what they feel is important enough to protest.
Because you know what that's called?
Equality. As in equal treatment for those working for and being paid by our tax dollars.
And know this, the wheels of politics are already moving this morning. Here is a copy of a text message I received this morning that was also sent to Hamilton County board of education member David Testerman from Hamilton County commissioner Tim Boyd:
"I suggest you remind the Superintendent to tell the Brainerd HS football coach he is being paid to coach football and not lead political protest (see front page of today's paper). If he leads the protest he should be immediately removed as coach. I am not standing by and having our coach/teachers use our public schools and students as a platform for their personal political views. Please let me know when this coach is instructed to stand down on the protest during the national anthem. Thanks. Tim"
No matter what side of this discussion you fall on - whether you believe Kaepernick is an attention-seeker who wears socks making fun of cops or if you believe he should be in discussion for Sportsman of the Year - Boyd's point must be discussed.
Is there any issue, regardless of merit and meaning, that you want a public school employee leading your children in a protest?
Maybe Gwyn got parental permission from each and every player and there was uniform support. Maybe there were a handful of civic group meetings to discuss this around the Brainerd area. I know that last week at the Baylor-Howard game almost half the fans on the Howard side sat as the anthem was being played.
Buckle up, because this could take a nasty turn.