Is kneeling during the national anthem disrespectful to the American flag, and by extension, to the U.S. military? That’s the charge President Trump recently leveled at NFL players who began “taking a knee,” to use the athletes’ language, to protest police brutality against people of color.

But underneath that charge is an unexamined assumption that veterans and service members would not share the athletes’ views — and are white. We examine that underlying assumption to shed light on what service members believe and how that might affect the larger argument.