It's a rather interesting refrain, and most of us saw it somewhere in our social media over this weekend. Some of our friends are entirely appalled that football players, many of them black, would protest during the national anthem by kneeling instead of standing. "How dare they not honor those who gave their lives for this country!" We all saw this kind of talk. If you can listen for a few minutes, I (a white man) can try to make this simple for you.
When Colin Kaepernick started the anthem protests last year, there was a specific purpose to his protest- the treatment of African-Americans at the hands of the law (mostly on matters of police brutality). Now, I do feel the need here to tell you that I'm not a Kaepernick fan really- his comments about not voting, and even some of his less respectful words about cops are not things I can agree with- but him (and his declining football talent) are irrelevant to the situation. Black men in America have a different relationship to the law than just about any other group in our society. They are more likely to lose their life in an altercation with a cop. They are more likely to get a prison sentence for a crime than any other group. They receive the death penalty at a higher rate. They have had a very different experience with "the law" than the rest of us have, statistically speaking. Again, this is not an argument about each individual case where a black man is shot by a cop. This isn't measuring the level of racism in any one instance. This isn't even to say that most cops are racist. This is to say that the statistics say that black men, as a percentage, are more likely to have a negative experience in any interaction with legal authority. This was true 30 years ago. It is still true today. This isn't disputable.
The very first amendment our founding fathers passed was the First Amendment- the freedom of speech. The idea is that you can choose to make a political statement at your own personal discretion, how you want, when you want, without fear of "the state" penalizing you for doing so. In other words, if you are a black man who is unhappy with the statistical bias against you in the criminal justice system, and you choose to kneel during the national anthem, you can. You are well within your rights. You are not causing me any physical harm in doing so. You are making your point. Protest is protected speech, and the point of protest is not to make other people comfortable. The point is to make your cause heard.
When you ask how someone protesting can "disrespect the sacrifice of those who died for our flag," you are showing a fundamental misunderstanding of American history. Many of our troops who have died in wars, died fighting against nations and opponents who did not respect the freedom of speech. If they were defending anything American, it was the difference that we can speak out and air our grievances. From the British to ISIS, a very basic look back at the opponents Americans gave their blood to defeat shows people who did not respect anything resembling our First Amendment. Those troops gave their life and limb to defend the right of those very black men in the NFL who are protesting, whether they knew it then or not. That is quite literally what America is about. To believe that someone protesting for a cause is disrespecting the American flag is to fundamentally be completely ignorant of American history, period. It's also worth noting- American history has not been as kind to us all, without regard to race- so for some, the meaning of the flag can take on different values.
Which brings us to what went on yesterday, and really all weekend on social media- our President trying to incite a race war. Imagine if President Obama had attacked Tom Brady on Twitter for not coming to the White House when he won the Super Bowl. Donald Trump's attempt to insert himself into this debate on the side opposite of the First Amendment ended the option of silence for most players in the NFL, NBA, or anywhere else. His calling protesting players SOB's ended the notion that this President in any way respected the right of these men to voice their grievances. His attack on Steph Curry by name for not wishing to come to the White House ended the notion that he would respect his critics. Donald Trump attempted to reframe the protests from a discussion of a legitimate issue of policy and human rights, and move it into a question of patriotism and national pride. The minute he inserted himself into this debate in this manner, he changed the nature of these protests- from protests over the treatment of black men by the state, to a protest of a national leader who does not respect the right of these men to voice their grievances as people. Donald Trump could not bring himself to really impugn white supremacists in Charlottesville, but he could call black football players "SOB's" for protesting at football games. His motives are clear as day.
White Americans need to have a wake up call on this matter- if black men are good enough to play sports for you, or make music for you, or entertain you in any way that you're willing to buy, then you also have to accept that they are actual human beings, and support their right to act as such. Either black men are people or not- and if we're asking this question in 2017, I don't want to hear you tell me "how far we've come." If you're saying you want these black men to "stick to sports," you're basically saying you don't want to allow them the right to be human beings. These are not 2-D video game characters, these are actual people- afford them the humanity to hear their cause out.
Protests are not supposed to make you comfortable. They are supposed to be inconvenient, to make you think about things you'd rather not think about. They are supposed to invade your Montgomery, Alabama bus system, and also your television set on Sunday afternoons in the Fall. They are supposed to make you contemplate and discuss issues in our society that you don't want to, aren't comfortable discussing, and fear the answers to. Protests are not supposed to be for your pleasure- because those protesting sure as hell aren't deriving any pleasure from having to do it.
Now, as I said above, I'm a white man, and I'm proud overall of my country, problems and all. Do I particularly like national anthem protests? No, I don't. Guess what though? That's not for me to decide. I am not the people protesting. I am not the person who feels their rights are being violated by the very government who is supposed to insure them. As someone who is not oppressed in this instance, it is not for me to tell the oppressed how to voice their concerns. It's not for me to tell them to sit down and shut up. It's not for me to judge. It's for me to listen to, and contemplate. I may not always agree with the protest of an issue, but I should try and give it a fair hearing as best I can. Even if the method of protest has made me uncomfortable.
That's what being American is. That's what this is all about. It's not about disrespecting police officers, they do our society a service every day. It's not about disrespecting our flag, our soldiers, or our history. This is about whether or not we will actually see these modern day gladiators on our TV as actual people, voicing their concerns on issues that impact their lives, or not.
Either you're going to respect black men as people, or you're not. The ball's in your court, America.
No comments:
Post a Comment