(big breath) Here it goes:
This is political. I may be unfriended by a few people for
this, and that’s alright by me. If someone unfriends another person for
expressing a difference of opinion that is not blatantly malicious or hostile,
the problem is with themselves, and not with me.
It is someone’s right in this country to express their
discontent with a small part or a large part of our government and society. It
is also their right to express this without fear or threat against their life,
their livelihood (their job), or the lives and well-being of their family. That
means that we also have the right to express our disagreement with their form
of protest, but our right to express ourselves ends at threatening their lives
and their careers. It is also corrupt for someone in public office to use their
power to incite anger and violence against other citizens in this country. If
it were not this way, it would be stunning to see how quickly we dissolved into
an authoritarian society like North Korea. Every day I am so grateful for the
freedom that I and everyone else has – even when I don’t agree with them – in
the United States to say how I feel even when it is unpopular. These initial statements
aren’t my opinion but rather statements, my opinion follows next.
When that freedom is threatened, I must speak up and defend
it, or risk one day losing it through complacency. It’s probably clear that I
am referencing a specific hot topic today, which is the controversy surrounding
some athletes taking a knee during the National Anthem instead of standing with
their hand over their heart. Let me be clear: Take my words exactly as they
are. I have no hidden meaning or agenda behind them, so please don’t twist
them. I mean exactly what I say. No implication necessary.
I believe these athletes – like anyone else in this country
– have the right to peacefully protest. This is on the assumption that they
themselves consider what they are doing as protesting. We do not get to pick
and choose which causes and which people get to have freedom of speech. I have
seen far too many people already who are very vocal about their opinions on
things, completely shut these athletes down and say they should be fired or
worse. No. You have the right to protest in return or in retaliation. You can
choose to no longer watch or attend the sporting events that these athletes
play in – you can boycott. However, your right ends when you demand that they
be fired for it. Why? Because it is not
a law to stand and have one’s hand over their heart. Maybe there are specific state
rules that sanction such – I’m not going to pretend to be privy to every law in
this country – but it cannot be a legally enforceable law. If it were so, our
country would not stand out as a shining beacon. Being forced to show respect
and kneel before a symbol of government is what they do in socially repressive
societies like North Korea. I don’t believe anyone’s intentions are for the
U.S. to become an example for repression.
The point of holding our hand over our heart and standing in
front of our flag is beautiful because we choose to do so. Without that conscientious
decision, it’s mechanical and it loses all meaning. If someone is forced to
respect the flag, then they aren’t really respecting it at all but are
motivated by fear to their life, liberty, and personal property. There is
nothing beautiful about forcing your will onto someone else.
Society has already established that other forms of protest
are often dangerous, uninspiring, and do not bring about long-term change.
Gathering a large group of angry people in a public place has often been
catastrophic because anger feeds on anger, and people begin to act irrationally.
It has caused thousands of dollars in damages to public and private buildings,
physical injury and chaos, and sometimes even death – and that’s just in 2017. Holding
protests on social media purportedly promotes the spread of fake news and
misinformation because it is so easily shared, edited, and twisted for people’s
own uses. People say social media is not the place to be political. Attempts to
bring about actual change through our court systems have so far proved rather
futile when it comes to race relations and discrimination. And of course, not
exercising your freedom of speech and doing nothing is the most guaranteed change
of never getting someone changed that your heart and soul believes in.
So how does one protest? It depends. If you’re white and you
are already in favor of something that is socially acceptable to our society,
you can protest by any means. Your true intentions will generally be seen for
exactly what they are. If you are an ethnic or religious minority, things get
tricky. Any form of protest will see strong backlash and viewed by white
America as an excuse to re-enforce racial stereotypes. For example, an assembly
of people of color in a public place that, due to the misguided, malicious
intent of a very small few, takes a violent turn. Now America puts blame on the
group as a whole and those with racist frames of mind will say that black
people are naturally violent, and this is why they are not, and cannot, be
treated equally.
So that doesn’t work. So how do you express the pain and
agony you feel and try to promote change, if none of these are options?
This brings us back to the subject at hand – black athletes
taking a knee at football games. This is silent, peaceful protest. Are they
using their “star power” to bring an issue to light? Certainly, but anyone with
a brain would use the tools and resources they have at hand to create the
biggest impact possible for what they believe in. They are not using
intimidation or trying to coerce others to start a riot or get someone fired.
They are not burning our flag, giving people and the United States the bird,
shouting obscenities and racial slurs, damaging property, or betraying our
country by providing top secret information to our enemies. They are kneeling. Their
kneeling is a form of objection and protest, but kneeling in itself is also a
form of reverence and respect. They are still respecting the flag and our
country at the same time as they are objecting to something they do not agree
with.
The flag is not something to be worshiped, at least not in
my opinion. My own personal religion asks me not to worship any image or symbol,
simply to respect what I feel needs to be respected. Being offended is also a
choice. We as a society choose to be offended by this. Some people say they
might as well be spitting on their family member’s grave, who dedicated their
life serving in the armed forces to defend this country. But part of that
defense was also defending the right of people that they do not agree with, and
that’s exactly what they are doing. They are using the rights that these amazing
heroes have defended for them. Most Americans think Nationalism and Patriotism
are good things. Many other countries throughout history have shown great
nationalism as well, which caused an ethnocentric mindset and led to horrible,
unthinkable consequences. I believe Nationalism and Patriotism are a choice –
not everyone has to have it, especially if they feel their country is or has
failed them in some way. We don’t get to decide how someone else feels, and it
serves no good for anyone to disregard their feelings while promoting our own. We
cannot pick and choose. Some people say: Well, these people are millionaires,
they are not experiencing hardship. No, but I’m sure they have family members,
friends, acquaintances, former neighbors that are. Perhaps they feel an
obligation to these people Because they are millionaires and have so many
opportunities to use that influence to help those who do not.
I support the right of anyone to express their discontent. I
support the right of anyone to not salute our flag. It does not mean that I
will not respect the flag, but that’s my own choice. We are not the same
people, I have not experienced their lives, their hardships, or their pain. I
do not share a racial community with them and cannot understand the unique pain
of seeing others who share my skin color be hurt and made to feel obsolete. I’ll
never understand that – I’ll try, but it won’t be 100 percent.
Please note: I am not here to argue or debate. I am here to
share my opinion simply because most of you have already shared yours. I allowed
you to share your opinions with complete respect for you, and have not
attempted to start a flame war on your wall. I expect the same in return. As I
have control over the content on my own Facebook wall, I am letting everyone
know beforehand that I will remove any derogatory, inflammatory, and racist
comments put here or on my blog.
Thank you.
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