To the Editor:
Regarding your editorial in the Warwick Beacon on September 28, “The truly disgraceful stance,” I would like to address two issues.
First, racism is completely unacceptable and intolerable. It’s too bad God didn’t create us with a wider variety of skin colors. How would we feel about the person with blue, purple or yellow skin? When my color-blind son was a toddler, he once referred to “that man on TV with the red face.” I often think about this and wonder why our skin makes a difference in how we feel about a person. Should being in the minority of majority make a difference? Jim Henson had it right. All Muppets are wonderful, no matter what color their outer shell. The inside is what matters.
I also want to say that bringing awareness to racism in America should be done in many ways. As often as it rears its ugly head, it should be denounced in no uncertain terms. I think that taking a knee during the National Anthem is an offensive and ineffectual way of bringing attention to racism. I don’t think it’s disrespectful to only our veterans and the men and women who are serving in our military. More than that, I think it’s disrespectful to our entire country.
But, as abhorrent as I find the practice of “taking a knee,” I rejoice in the freedom Americans have to express themselves in this way. One country tortures and kills a young man for tearing down a poster off a wall. Another allows you to be free to criticize administrators at the highest levels without fear of retribution. Give me my American Freedom any day.

Virginia Flynn
Warwick