You are hiding behind a quote from another article from a highly biased publication, but now let’s break down what the quote is saying:

“There has never been a point in U.S. history when nonwhite bodies were not under the threat of state violence. That is why black people are kneeling before the flag. It was never intended to reflect the protection of our humanity. If it were, police officers would not get away with shooting and killing black people with reckless abandon, all while wearing an American-flag patch on their uniforms.”

First of all, it is not only “black people” who are kneeling.

Second, even one of the main initiators of the protests said that the purpose of the protests has been lost. This is something that’s clear if you actually listened to the many press conferences from athletes and coaches after the protests, when they spoke vaguely about a whole range of topics, anything from racial equality to solidarity in general to sending a message of peace, etc. These “protesters” have no specific aims, goals or demands. They’re just protesting to protest … because protesting has become a thing in this country.

Third, if you want to protest, protest. But do it on your own time, not while you’re at work (if you or I started protesting while at work, we’d likely be fired, no?; why shouldn’t these players be fired?). And doing it during the National Anthem is a slap in the face to people. It’s just disrespectful. No one is asking these protesters to sing along. Just stand there silently and respectfully. That’s not asking too much.

And finally let’s now look at the other part of your quote, the part that talks about “police officers … get[ting] away with shooting and killing black people with reckless abandon, all while wearing an American-flag patch on their uniforms.” I understand you’re just quoting someone else here, so you probably haven’t bothered to check whether this statement is an accurate one, but if you were intellectually curious enough to do so, you’d discover that it’s not. The single most comprehensive discussion of the evidence about police shootings (and other police brutality) with regard to blacks is in this post from David Shuey. It is lengthy, but if you’re actually interested in this issue and want to really understand the numbers, then I give it my highest recommendation. If you don’t have the patience, then I have a more pithy discussion here. Either way, I implore you to read one or both of these posts, approach them with an open mind, and then, after reading them, come back and tell me whether you still think “police officers [are] get[ting] away with shooting and killing black people with reckless abandon.” The empirical evidence says there is no such thing going on.