After engaging in character assassination against Green Bay Packers fans who chose not to protest during Thursday’s National Anthem, FS1's Undisputed co-host Shannon Sharpe did the same with the American flag, declaring it to be merely a racist “piece of cloth” that “nobody fights for.”
“The flag, you see, to a lot of people, symbols, patriotism but what does that symbol actually mean? What does — what does – okay — you keep telling me that the flag means so much and it's opportunity and freedom and liberty. Okay. Can you honestly say that everybody in America has freedom and liberties and opportunity,” Sharpe wondered to co-host Skip Bayless.
Bayless replied “no,” so Sharpe then noted that inequalities should be address. Fair enough.
But Sharpe went further by showing his disdain for this country, the flag, and Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner (depicting the scene in Baltimore during the War of 1812) [emphasis mine]:
And stop trying to sweep it under the rug. But, see, as long as you paint that narrative, oh, it's the Anthem, I can’t — no — anybody that does something to the Anthem — well, we know what the anthem was originally written for and who it was written by, okay? The flag, okay? We understand what the flag? What does it represent? When did this narrative come to be that the military and the police own the flag and only them? I can go buy a flag and I can hang it up in my backyard. We need to stop this, Skip. We need to — the flag is a piece of cloth and nobody fights for a piece of cloth.
Bayless, who was almost universally in step with Sharpe on the protest issue, broke away by telling him that he shouldn’t “say that” because “[t]hat’s the symbol of this country” and “what it represents.”
Sharpe then dropped a befuddling red herring, repeatedly wondering if we all should then “fight for a pair of jeans.” Bayless replied that the flag itself dates back to our country’s founding in 1776 and everything that’s come since.
The hurtful, partisan, and short-sighted debate continued to drag on with moderator Joy Taylor ending it due to a commercial break:
BAYLESS: It’s the symbol of our country. What are you talking about?
SHARPE: Okay, so the symbol of your country — so the symbol of your country is racism.
BAYLESS: Why do white kids get shot in the '60s? For burning jeans? No, they burned the flag. And bunch of them died.
SHARPE: The symbol. The symbol. But what does that symbol represent? So long as you got a symbol — Skip — let me explain it to you like this. The symbol, okay, the American flag, what is the representation of that symbol? What does the flag actually mean?
BAYLESS: You know what it means. It stands for America. It stands for the greatest country in the world. That's how most people look at it.
Once this writer tweeted video of the segment, IJR’s Jason Howerton picked it up and it led to a series of responses from Sharpe.
As Howerton appropriately explained, it’s almost impossible to have a debate in America today as disrespect and demonizations immediately take hold.
Sharpe’s outburst about the American flag were sponsored by Undisputed advertisers Dairy Queen, Nationwide, and Playstation Vue.
Here’s the relevant transcript from FS1's Skip and Shannon: Undisputed on September 29:
FS1's Skip and Shannon: Undisputed
September 29, 2017
3:15 p.m. Eastern
SHANNON SHARPE: The flag, you see, to a lot of people, symbols, patriotism but what does that symbol actually mean? What does — what does – okay — you keep telling me that the flag means so much and it's opportunity and freedom and liberty. Okay. Can you honestly say that everybody in America has freedom and liberties and opportunity?
SKIP BAYLESS: No.
SHARPE: Well, of you can't answer, we will have a problem and we would like to have it addressed.
BAYLESS: Correct.
SHARPE: And stop trying to sweep it under the rug. But, see, as long as you paint that narrative, oh, it's the Anthem, I can’t — no — anybody that does something to the Anthem — well, we know what the anthem was originally written for and who it was written by, okay? The flag, okay? We understand what the flag? What does it represent? When did this narrative come to be that the military and the police own the flag and only them? I can go buy a flag and I can hang it up in my backyard. We need to stop this, Skip. We need to — the flag is a piece of cloth and nobody fights for a piece of cloth.
BAYLESS: Yeah, they do. Don't say that.
SHARPE: So, you —
BAYLESS: That’s the symbol of this country. That's what it represents.
SHARPE: So they’ll fight for a pair of jeans?
BAYLESS: You should own that.
SHARPE: They’ll fight for a pair of jeans?
BAYLESS: If that's what we had chosen in 1776, that represents our nation —
SHARPE: Skip, Skip —
BAYLESS: You better believe they would.
SHARPE: Skip, it’s a piece — the symbol — listen —
BAYLESS: It’s the symbol of our country. What are you talking about?
SHARPE: Okay, so the symbol of your country — so the symbol of your country is racism.
BAYLESS: Why do white kids get shot in the '60s? For burning jeans? No, they burned the flag. And bunch of them died.
SHARPE: The symbol. The symbol. But what does that symbol represent? So long as you got a symbol — Skip — let me explain it to you like this. The symbol, okay, the American flag, what is the representation of that symbol? What does the flag actually mean?
BAYLESS: You know what it means. It stands for America. It stands for the greatest country in the world. That's how most people look at it.
