What does it have to do with patriotism? Whining about players who are affected by and who have family and friends who are affected by the dangers of being Black in a country that’s supposed to not treat them as disposable is a very cheap, easy, and–for the whiners–non-consequential method of showing how patriotic those very same whiners are. It’s comfort patriotism, if I may coin such a term.
Comfort patriotism does not require the CP to actually go out and join the military, attempt to stop injustice, or even actually treat a victim of institutionalized or society-rewarded prejudice as a fellow human being.
It’s just comfortable. And it’s a great way to feel even more comfortable when the CP raises his or her voice to join all those other CPs, he or she will feel that someone is listening to him or her and validating his or her view on patriotism, on how other people should display their own patriotism. And what’s more validating than one’s hero*, the president of one’s country, joining the CP in mouthing the same view?
Of course that viewpoint ignores nifty little facts such as actual military veterans, actual war heroes (IIRC), supporting the protestors’ stance and methods, Supreme Court cases addressing one’s right to not participate in a forced display of [del]worship to a piece of cloth and/or piece of music[/del] patriotism, and the actual words of the Constitution of the United States of America.
*Note that jackass is not my hero; he is the CP’s hero.