DAVID GREENE: In Houston, Texas —
maybe more than most places — football looms large.
And so it is no surprise that NFL protests
during the national anthem have spilled into daily life.
RONNIE MITCHEM: I told the whole team exactly what would happen if they did kneel.
JOHN BARRETT: People of color have been saying they have been mistreated for years.
Police brutality — now people are talking about it.
INDIA LANDRY: It’s going to take time, but eventually it’ll change things.
GREENE: And of course, President Trump himself continues to weigh in.
TRUMP: Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners —
when somebody disrespects our flag —
to say, “Get that son of a b**** off the field right now.
Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!”
What began as protests against racial injustice
has morphed into a culture war.
It's messy. It's personal.
And in many ways, it’s about what it means
for people of many races, backgrounds and politics to share the symbol of the American flag.
Just outside Houston, a highway divides two small towns:
one largely black, the other largely white.
Ronnie Mitchem is a pastor in Crosby, Texas,
and behind his church is the field where he coached a small but proud home-school football team.
Last year, Mitchem told his players that if they wanted to protest,
they could do it anytime, except during the anthem at their games.
And still, two of his players — both African-American — defied him,
and he then kicked them off the team.
The ensuing media coverage, the controversy, a few graduations —
resulted in Mitchem disbanding the football program altogether.
How painful was that for you, to watch your season unravel like that?
MITCHEM:  I’d known my two players who knelt for two seasons.
One of them had been at my house, spent the night many times.
Him and my son were good friends.
This was a kid who actually on my birthday of 2017 wrote on Twitter:
“To the best coach you could ever have." Or "ask for."
You know, it was probably one of the ...
I know to other people it doesn't seem much, but to me
it was just one of the hardest moments of my life.
It broke my heart that they did that, because I thought we had an agreement.
Second of all, I knew that things were never going to be the same.
GREENE: So you brought up the whole kneeling question with them.
MITCHEM: Yeah, I talked with them about it and
I said, “Actually, you know the issue with the kneeling is
that it's disrespectful to those men and women who serve.
First of all, it’s disrespectful to your country,
because you live in the greatest country on the face of the earth.
You're blessed already to be born an American.
So you've got a blessing.” I said and then,
“You're looking at these men who have died and give everything for you and sacrificed.
They didn't have a life.
They were 18 years old just like some of you, and they died on a beach somewhere.
Never had the privilege to have a wife or kid or family.”
And I said also, because you know it seemed to be about color to some extent and race.
I said that, “You know, there were white men who fought for the national anthem,
I mean for the flag, who fought to free slaves.
So when everybody wants to get you in this debate,
understand there were men who died, who were white, to free slaves.
So you know, we're not going to do this.”
And my point was we’re just going to show respect, and I expect that out of you.
GREENE:  You said that you have taught these young men respect and that that's so important to you.
You know these two players have talked about that they felt —
not that they were disrespecting the flag —
they wanted to join a movement to speak out about how African-Americans are treated in this country.
Wouldn't it be the ultimate show of respect to them
or you to put your personal views about flag and country — as strong as they are — aside
to let them do something that is so important to them?
MITCHEM: Not when it comes to disrespecting my country. No.
I find it offensive.
I love those two boys, but if they love me in return and showed respect ...
I have rules. They know my rules.
You don't get respect by showing disrespect.
Because if you lose that symbol of America,
then what draws all of us — black, white, Hispanic, everybody — together.
Then, I mean, we're losing the symbol that should represent all of us.
And so disrespecting it — to me, it's the way I felt —
is just tearing that down in our society.
GREENE: Just across the highway from Crosby sits Barrett Station.
And that is where we met John Barrett.
He’s the great-grandson of the freed slave who founded this town.
John Barrett maintains the estate, and he hosted us in his family museum.
Before we turned the microphones on, you were telling me a story about two girls,
little girls who visited your family’s estate. Can you tell me that again?
BARRETT: Yeah. My cousin was throwing a festival.
They were on the opposite side of the compound, and they were looking over —
because when you look over from over there, and you see the house, it’s just beautiful.
And they basically said amongst themselves:
They couldn't believe that these white people allowed all of these black people here.
And I just paused and looked at them for a second,
and I thought, “Oh, my God. We've got so far to go.”
GREENE: What role does this moment play in that journey?
BARRETT: This moment right now is exposing the truth.
It's showing you that these issues really are real.
And the protest that Colin has brought about ...
I have an issue with him taking a knee. The knee is submissive.
There's nothing submissive about this. He should stand with his fist in the air.
GREENE: Colin Kaepernick and others, you’re saying?
BARRETT: Yes. So he took it a step further and became submissive.
And people have an issue with that.
And that just tells you when you hear someone saying,
“Oh, he's being unpatriotic” or whatever. “He's disrespecting the flag” or whatever.
Man, he's taking a knee.
When you pray, you get on your knees.
People of color have been saying they've been mistreated for years, and people dismiss it.
“Oh, you're pulling the race card."
"Oh, that's really not happening. Oh, this. Oh, that.”
Well, it did.
I mean, how many more episodes do we need?
GREENE: And are you saying that the racism that still exists in our country needed to be exposed?
BARRETT: And our president couldn't have done a better job.
I commend him for it. He pulled the cover off of all of it.
He did.
I thank him.
GREENE:  He very famously came out and called NFL players who were protesting SOBs.
BARRETT: Honestly, it was trying ... it was dying out.
And when he di that, he stirred it back up.
GREENE: Are you glad that he stirred it back up?
Well, he’s bringing — and maybe that was secretly his plan —
he’s bringing issues back to the forefront.
GREENE: But you said you didn’t necessarily like ...
BARRETT: I didn’t like his choice of words, but by him doing that
he stirred it up, brought it back and now we have to deal with it.
GREENE: So is two years enough and now it’s time to move on
to the next phase of what you’re talking about, or do you want Trump to keep stirring this?
BARRETT: I don't want the stirring to continue.
No, I don't want the stirring to continue at all.
I think we need to come center now.
I think our president needs to bring his center now.
Now that he's done it and shown it, he needs to become a uniter.
GREENE: Do you see that happening?
BARRETT: He could do it.
GREENE: Do you see Donald Trump doing it?
BARRETT: I would like for him to do it.
I would like ... that would be a wonderful thing.
I would love to see him become a uniter now.
He's shown us. Now fix us.
GREENE: You really can’t visit Texas on a Friday night without finding a football game, right?
I was in the stands here with India Landry,
who — as a sixth-grader, six years ago — started protesting police violence
by staying seated during the Pledge of Allegiance at school.
Her gesture took on new dimensions when NFL players began protesting in 2016,
and during her senior year she was expelled for not standing for the pledge.
So no one kneeled tonight?
LANDRY: No one kneeled. No, no one kneeled tonight.
GREENE: What do you think of that? Do you ...
LANDRY:  I’m not against it. I wouldn’t do it. I would kneel.
GREENE: You would kneel? If you were out there?
LANDRY: Mmm hmm.
GREENE: In just a few weeks, India is going to be coming off the sidelines.
She's going to vote for the very first time.
LANDRY: I remember being younger and like “I wish I could vote.”
And now I’m able to. It matters most now, probably more than ever.
