To the Editor:

Bob Kraft is wrong in his statement approving players kneeling while the National Anthem is played. That is the wrong time and the wrong place! Colin Kaepernik, ignorant as he is, was hardly a worthy leader in protest considering his hatred for police and love for the leaders in Cuba. Kraft's players, intelligent he says, picked up on Kaepernik's lead.

There apparently was no one at the NFL who was astute enough to incorporate positive demonstrations of love of country with the Anthem. After the Anthem, a kneel or stand prayer to God for unity and equality would have been appropriate. Apparently this double win never occurred to them. By the NFL's vacillation they managed to turn entertainment into a political football. Not acceptable by any standard.

Neither Mr. Kraft nor any of the protesting players would be willing to change jobs with policemen who risk their lives every day of the year to protect the public from the multiplicity of crisis episodes. Does anyone think they would work in Chicago as police officers?

Mr. Kraft and all of the NFL players would do well to review the history of this country and the difficult struggle men and women have endured to make our country the enviable exception that it is. They could start by reading William Bennett's book, "America - The Last Best Hope - Vol. 1" and pay particular attention to the sections dealing with the Civil War where 700,000 men died in a war to end the demonic practice of slavery in our country. At Cold Harbor, Virginia 7,000 men were killed or injured in just 30 minutes. At Gettysburg, 50,000 men were killed and the survivors were faced with the almost impossible task of burying them. Those numbers are not just statistics, they manifest the devotion those brave Americans had and what built this country to what we now enjoy.

There are thousands of other examples of extreme sacrifice men and women have made for what they knew to be the greatest country in history. It would do well if these uninformed, over-paid players would focus on these men and woman of such singular honor and courage rather than the few losers that the shock media is only too happy to exploit.

The problem with race relations is too extensive to examine in this letter. But Mr. Kraft and these protesters should enlighten themselves to the shocking decline in the stability of black families that started in the 1960s during Lyndon Johnson's presidency and his "War on Poverty". Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institution at Stanford, believes the legacy of the welfare state is a serious problem as it has changed the vision of black Americans. That almost certainly is more the genesis of the protest by the players. Mr. Kraft, the players, and the reader would do well to search for Dr. Sowell's statements that portend a difficult road ahead for America.

Sam Parente

Cranston