Dear NFL Team Owners:

The good record of the National Football League as an institution, and of its players as individuals, is being seriously tarnished by the current National Anthem protests because those protests are based on a lie. We appeal to you to end this senseless travesty.

The NFL, and professional sports in general, have played an important role in breaking racial barriers in America.  Success in sports is based on talent, hard work, and merit. Racial barriers are as counter-productive in sports as they are anywhere in society. And NFL players have given generous personal support to programs and charities that help the disadvantaged in our society. This good record is being tarnished by the National Anthem protests.

The American people are being told that refusing to stand for the National Anthem is a symbolic protest against institutionalized racism, especially on the part of our police forces. But the American people know that is a lie. Yes, there are some bad apples among police officers, but that is true of every profession. And yes, we must discipline and remove, when necessary, those officers. But look at the record:

• While blacks are only 13% of the population, blacks committed 52% of all homicides in the U.S. in recent years; Overwhelmingly these homicides are perpetrated on other blacks in predominantly black communities. 

• Police are called into black neighborhoods, disproportionately to the percentage of blacks in the population, to protect innocent black residents from this black criminal element.

The real problem, in short, is black-on-black crime and murder. Instead the NFL players are protesting an alleged institutional police rampage against blacks. That's a lie.

America needs to address the problem of black-on-black crime, but protests against the National Anthem at NFL games is not the time or place, and hardly the solution. The pre-game National Anthem is a unifying tradition that shows pride in what is good about America, and there is a lot of good.

The American people know this. That's why they are rejecting these "politically correct" antics.

The NFL and its constituent teams -- you, the owners -- do not hesitate to prohibit activities at your games that you do not consider appropriate. We urge you to stop these protests against the National Anthem immediately and return to providing exciting sports entertainment for your audience.

Sincerely,

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman
FedUp PAC