Veteran Nate Boyer: Taking a knee wasn’t disrespectful until “I saw the knee on George Floyd’s neck”

Army veteran Nate Boyer (who advised Colin Kaepernick on kneeling in silent protest of injustice and police brutality) reveals his perspective on national protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, what Drew Brees can learn from his controversial statement condemning kneeling, the evolution of his own recognition of oppression in the U.S. and how Kaepernick’s 2016 gesture has impacted our society today.

Video Transcript

NATE BOYER: I'm Nate Boyer, United States Army Special Forces, a former Texas Longhorn, Seattle Seahawks.

I met Colin in 2016. He'd been sitting on the bench for a couple of weeks in protest during the national anthem, protesting social injustice, police brutality, and racial inequality. And when I saw him sitting on the bench, initially, I was very hurt by that. I had my reactions. It didn't matter what it was about to me. It was just the fact that, you know, those symbols-- the flag, the anthem-- those things mean a lot to me. And I wrote an open letter to Colin as if I had him for five minutes in the room, just explaining my experiences, why I feel the way that I feel, why I stand, but also understanding that when I took the oath to join the military, it was to defend the Constitution and the First Amendment, which includes freedom of speech.

He read the letter. He reached out to me. And we ended up meeting in San Diego before the final preseason game of 2016 in the lobby of the team hotel on game day. We talked about our experiences in the hotel. And he asked me at the end of the conversation, do you think there is another way I can protest that won't offend people in the military? That's when I suggested kneeling alongside his teammates.

He agreed taking a knee was more powerful. People take a knee to pray, and to propose to their wives, and, obviously, to protest too. Also, it's common for us in the military to take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave to pay respects, right? I never thought of a knee as being disrespectful until recently, when I saw the knee on George Floyd's neck.

Even before the military-- and I went to the Darfur, and I volunteered there just for a couple of months at refugee camps. 400,000 people had been murdered in a genocide. And so that was my first experience of being around oppression and thinking of the word "oppression," hearing it and seeing it for myself. I haven't experienced it against me personally. But I've seen it. And I've seen it quite a bit in the Middle East, and Iraq, and Afghanistan.

So that was initially very hard for me to sort of get over. I think when I heard it here in America, because I was like, oh, it's just different, though, you know? But I had to let that go because I don't know what it's like to be a person of color in this country. And it doesn't mean that oppression doesn't exist. It absolutely does.

DREW BREES: I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America.

NATE BOYER: I think, initially, when I heard Drew's remarks, I was hurt and disappointed because I know Drew, and I know the type of man that he is and what he stands for. Beyond just what he's done after Katrina, he's done so much for the City of New Orleans. He helped to change a law in Louisiana that secured voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. And I'm glad that he's retracted since then and made an apology statement. And I hope that it will only grow that team stronger and bring them together more, and help more people learn and listen as this thing develops.

I think we have come quite a long ways in, you know, a few hundred years of existence. But we still have a long way to go. It's not perfect. And for us to just sit back and be like, well, that's good enough, that's not American. That's not who we are. We're not the good enough people. We keep fighting until the issue is fully resolved, and it's fixed, and it's better, and everybody feels truly equal. And I mean, that's what I stand for. That's why I joined the military. So that's what we gotta to do.

You know, that the Special Forces motto is to "free the oppressed," "de oppresso liber." And I have to continue to live that as much as I can.

I never thought, by sitting down with Colin in the lobby of the team hotel in San Diego, I don't think either of us ever thought it would evolve nearly to what it has, not just the kneeling but the conversation.

[MUSIC PLAYING]