Attention Josh Howard: If You Don't Like The U.S., Leave—It Won't Miss You

If you aren't up to date on Josh Howard's recent antics, please watch this video, and any others concerning his ridiculous actions in the past few months.

Josh, first of all, let me say that I love free speech. There's nothing more important to me than having the right to say what I feel, where I feel it, when I feel it—as long as it is not slanderous, hateful, morally ignorant, or all of the above.

I do not believe that someone should be punished or accosted simply because of an opinion they may have. I believe that our society has become far too politically correct, and I agree with people like Carlos Mencia—although he's definitely not a favorite comedian of mine, so please don't judge—when they say that we take ourselves far too seriously as a people.

We should all be able to make jokes about each other, whether they be about what different races eat, how they raise their kids, how they drive, how they speak, political affiliations, etc., without hating one another for it. After all, differences in people are what make us individuals.

Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, stereotypes are usually based in at least some truth, so we might as well laugh about it, without hating each other. We are—all of us—quite imperfect.

All that being said, I believe your comments about the American flag were completely out of line. There's a difference between pointing out things that are wrong with something or someone in a way that could at least possibly be constructive, and being a slanderous idiot.

There is a difference in calling out policies or methods with which the government handles things in a way that could bring about change, and disrespecting everything that has made this country what it is today. Maybe it's not the greatest country in the world, as some claim, or maybe it is.

But for sure it's a place where a person can for the most part be whatever he or she wants to be and always can live in peace without being jailed or killed because of religious beliefs, race, sexual orientation, political affiliations, and so on.

These rights are available to us because of men and women who have bled and died for those rights, and continue to do so as I sit and type this.

Josh, whether you like it or not, you are person of influence in the United States of America. Sports figures here have a ridiculous amount of influence on the rest of society—even, for some reason, when they aren't the people you really want to model yourself after. This goes for people of all ages, not just kids.

If you have a problem with the way things are in America, you definitely has an opportunity to raise awareness about problems you may perceive and do everything you can to get those problems acknowledged and changed. A perfect time for you to do something, J-Ho, would be in the offseason.

Instead of spending your free time smoking marijuana with all of your NBA buddies—which is something you have also recently made your opinions on so blatantly clear (and is not something I really care about one way or another)—you could find some way to make your voice heard and spend your time more productively.

It wouldn't be difficult at all. Athletes' voices and opinions are heard whether they want them to be or not. You know this better than anyone, buddy.

Now, I don't know what your true feelings are about the United States, or the flag, or anything else. You may have been kidding, or saying those things merely because you were around people who felt that way and got caught up in the heat of the moment. You may not have meant those things at all. Somehow I doubt that, but it may be the case.

However, it is idiotic, moronic, and completely ungrateful of you to say what you did, at any time or place. America pays you, Josh. The reason you is a multi-millionaire for playing a GAME in the first place is because Americans pay you so they can watch you have fun. What a life! A lot of those people who pay you so they may watch you are the very people who are fighting and dying for this country.

Whether or not you agree with what our military is doing is beside the point, and has nothing to do with the individuals carrying out our military's particular instructions and goals. The people who are defending American interests and also the interests of others at this very point in time, and those that did in the past, are people who are helping pay your salary. 

This next point is where others may begin to disagree with me, Josh, if they do not already, and possibly get extremely angry. Let me preface what I am about to say with this. I despise racism, and I despise our country for what it did to the Irish, Chinese, and Polish when they began to immigrate here, and for what we did to Japanese immigrants and civilians during World War II.

I despise our country for what it did to American Indians when we arrived—though most people don't realize this, the treatment of American Indians by our country was one of the largest genocides in our world's history. I despise America for the treatment of African-American slaves before and during the Civil War, and for the treatment they and their decendants have received in our country, the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," for a hundred years and more afterward.

Our country, for all its professions of all men being created equal and all men and women having the exact same rights, has been a two-faced, back-stabbing place for certain people to live at times, and unfortunately, still is for some today. Though racism is not nearly as prevalent or blatantly expressed as it has been in the past, the undercurrent of hate for others not like ourselves is ever-present in our society, by all races of people, not just white or black.

(If I have missed any other peoples who have been oppressed here in America, I truly apologize. It is very likely that I have done so, as we have been historically quite a dangerous place to live for those other than WASPs.)

However, your professed reason for not standing at attention during the national anthem are ludicrous. You're black. Okay. Is that it? Why should that be the reason you're cursing what countless people have died to earn and protect? If you doesn't stand for the anthem, whatever, that's fine. That in itself isn't something that's all that out of the ordinary or even something that should be made a big deal of.

But to curse the flag and our country because of your skin color in this day and age is ridiculous. (By the way Josh, I'd bet a lot of money that Barack Obama would love it if you would keep your mouth shut about who you're going to vote for. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want or need your personal and most-eloquent endorsement of "Obama '08 and all that s***.")

Like I said, it's fine if you disagree with what's going on in our society and our government, because America is quite obviously far from perfect. If you want to sit for the anthem, fine. That's your right as an American citizen, because you can believe and act however you may choose here.

I openly acknowledge the fact that there is on going racism in America, and I even understand if you are still enraged as a black citizen because of the treatment of your ancestors here. I am angry with it, and I've never been racially profiled or discriminated against. Because of where I was born and the color of my skin, I luckily probably never will be. No one should ever be treated differently because of their skin.

If you hate that part of America, and you don't want to salute during the anthem, then by all means, keep your butt in your seat. I've even thought about it myself a couple of times in recent years.

But that's as far as this particular political statement should go in this particular forum. If you have problems with racism in America and wish to change it, please, by all means attempt to do so. Just not in this way, and preferably in one that doesn't perpetuate the widely held perception that athletes are stupid.

Josh, man, you get paid like you do for playing a game because of people who have given you those very same rights that allow you to believe and act as you choose. You're a multi-millionaire. And although you're pretty good, it's not like you're one of the greatest of all time or anything. You're not even the best player on your team, and you still make insane amounts of cash.

People who make money that is almost infinitely less than you do give money to you that, hell, with our economy the way it is, they probably don't really even have to give to their kids. Please be grateful for the rights and privileges you have, for the money that you make, and the freedom that you enjoy. Don't attack the symbols and country that have given those things to you.

All that being said, I do not believe you should be punished for what you have said and done. I don't think you need sensitivity training, a talk with Cuban about how to act in public, or courses on how to give an interview. I don't think you should be suspended, fined, fired, cut, or expelled from the league.

I don't think you needs to change what you believe, or even retract what you said. I don't think anything should be done to or with you at all. After all, Josh, this is America, and you can believe and say whatever you want.

What I do believe is this.  You should go play basketball in Greece, Italy, China, Germany, or Russia—anywhere else but here. Somewhere you feel like you aren't oppressed or cheated even though you're given millions to pass and shoot a ball through a hoop.  Somewhere you feel you can stand for the national anthem regardless of skin tone.

Somewhere that no one has died or is currently dying to protect your freedoms, and no one will be offended by the moronic feelings you apparently have for symbols of that freedom. Because, as an American, another freedom you've been given is the freedom to leave whenever you choose. I believe you should exercise that right to your fullest extent.