I’ve been thinking a lot about the Drew Brees comments about the flag, together with his second comment as well as his wife’s comment. I agreed with his first patriotic comment about the flag and still do. And, at least initially, I was a bit taken aback and sad about his subsequent apology, thinking that this was a clear case of bullying by other professional athletes and teammates.

At first glance, this may have appeared to have been a clear case of bullying. I initially thought that Brees realized that his black teammates were upset, and that 18 of the 22 Saints starters are black, so he cowtowed to them.

However, I have come to realize that there’s much more to Drew Brees than that. The man is intrepid. He was truly remorseful because he obviously came to the same realization that I only came to after having read and watched both of the Brees’s apologies. And for that I am eternally grateful to the Brees couple.

On second thought, I think that the New Orleans Saints legend and his wife were right both times. And I say that as an ardent supporter of President Trump. It really depends on how you read the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. I was, like many white people, concerned that it overlooked the obvious fact that all lives matter. I still believe that. However, I think that all but the most strident and dangerous #BlackLivesMatter supporters, who are just criminals, believe that all lives matter too.

Then this occurred to me. Perhaps had I read the hashtag with a silent “too” at the end of it, I wouldn’t have been taken aback by it at all. In fact, had it said #BlackLivesMatterToo , I don’t think anybody but the worst white supremacists, many of whom are criminals too who should be in jail, would have ever retorted all lives matter. Black lives do matter too. Police brutality is wrong, legally and morally.

This is not to denigrate the overewhelming majority of law enforcement officers who risk their lives daily for little money. I wouldn’t do that job for all of the tea in China. I deeply respect law enforcement and hope that they do a better job of policing themselves, which is where this should start.

In my opinion, granted coming a bit late, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and the kneeling at the football games (which I understand now but still wish they wouldn’t do) really don’t denigrate the flag or the country. In fact, I’ve come to believe that the hashtag means nothing about the flag at all. The overwhelming majority of black people are as patriotic as I am. Some even more so.

Let’s face it. The black community has been discriminated against both overtly and covertly, directly and indirectly, which is wrong no matter how you slice it. Discrimination of any kind is morally reprehensible, including reverse discrimination. The black community and the overwhelming majority of others agree. The black community has had enough of racial discrimination, and I agree with them. They’re upset, and I now really understand why.

As a white person, I sadly admit to having been discriminatory many times, and I was wrong every time. Every single time. If I still lived in New Orleans, I wouldn’t be a member of all of the clubs and organizations that had only white members, and I was member of several back in the day. Hopefully, those clubs and organizations have changed, but I doubt it. While I’m not going to apologize for being white because that was God’s plan for me, I have sympathy for their plight.

I remain concerned about all of the criminal opportunists and anarchists who are taking advantage of George Floyd’s gruesome death (I made myself watch all 8:46 of the video, and it was painful). I still denounce all of the destruction, murder and looting. At present, at least 15 people have died during this time. Their lives mattered too.

I watched George Floyd’s family ask for peaceful demonstrations, but the anarchists and criminals were well organized. Too well organized for this to have not been a coordinated effort that used George Floyd’s death as a pretense; those people couldn’t carea less about George Floyd. The financiers and organizers of the criminal activity need to go to jail. As far as I am concerned, their actions are not only illegal and immoral, but they’re counterproductive to the cause of ending racial discrimination.

In closing, we white people should not eschew #BlackLivesMatter because I now realize that the overwhelming majority of black people don’t intend to be threatening white people with it. Let’s face it, whites outnumber the blacks at least four to one, so I doubt that a race war is the end game (although I wonder what the end game is for the looters and anarchists).

What it really means that black lives matter too. For this, I would peacefully protest on the side of the road since I don’t believe that protesters should block roads because black lives do matter too. They’re precious gifts from God, just like me.

Thanks, No. 9 and Mrs. Brees! Bless you, Boys!!! Geaux Tigahs and Saints!!!