The National Anthem…Do you sit, kneel or stand?
This has been a huge debate in the United States starting last year with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the National Anthem to demonstrate against unfair treatment from police officers towards African-Americans.
There were two reactions at this time, which were anger and agreement. Those who were angry either thought that he was being un-patriotic and disrespectful towards our military members, those who believe police officers just do their jobs, and those who are just flat out racist. The people that were in agreement seemed to be a mix of those who want to fight for equality or those who are un-patriotic. This then later turned into almost an anti-President Trump protest when the POTUS decided to take a stand against this protest.
The problem is now if you take a knee you are automatically labeled un-patriotic and as you are disrespecting the military and on the flip side if you stand for the anthem you are labeled as racist and not standing for equality. Racism is more or less, disliking a group of people based on their race. This means that you dislike a whole group of people based on one thing that you do not like for some reason. If we are labeling each group based on the one factor of whether we they sit or stand aren’t we adding to the problem we are trying to steer away from?
Even though this protest started off as a message of equality, which is a good thing, we are dividing more over this protest. The protest has lost its way and is counterproductive at this time. Sometimes we as people have great ideas and they are not executed well. This doesn’t mean that it was a bad idea, but the thought process was not there.
I challenge athletes to hit the drawing board, so to speak, and come up with another way to push for equality that brings people together and doesn’t catch innocent people in the crosshairs of misunderstandings based on their choices. Equality has been a fight for many years and I understand this is no small task, but with that being said it is time to hit the drawing board and everyone stand together for our county, its anthem, its military and its fight for equality.
Please respond with your thoughts if you would like...but please be respectful of everyone’s opinions and thoughts.
@larryt20 - Hi, Larry Thompson, welcome to Steemit!
I've upvoted this post and noticed for the 10-thousandth time that my voting power is so insignificant that you haven't earned one cent from my good opinion, alas. But I completely agree with your "editorial." Since America has lost its privilege, power, global status, and undeserved reputation as defender of the poor and oppressed, we must preserve the last bastion of our alleged liberty, “free speech.” Is it time to screen-shot the noble plaque at the base of “The Statue of Liberty” and hope that posterity may discover it in the rubble that appears to be our future? We now live in a country conceived by our Luciferian, landed gentry, Freemason forefathers who thought and wrote in brilliant complex sentences which can no longer be comprehended by today’s college graduates. (“Huh?”)
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
We are the aforementioned “homeless tempest-tossed,” dog-paddling to stay afloat as geoengineered weather disasters flood or burn what was formerly known as “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I have just hoisted myself onto a passing boulder. The boulder rolled by in the floodwaters of the urban dams that were strategically lowered in Houston. The dams released enough water to destroy the remaining neighborhoods which had miraculously survived “Hurricane Harvey.” I whip out my trusty notepad because of the urgent need to respond to your post. Here’s my response:
“YOU’RE RIGHT!”
Truly you have nailed the crux of the matter with one exception. I do not ask the athletes to go back to the drawing board and find a form of protest that unifies the country. There is no such form. Conflicting ideas will always conflict. The athletes have chosen, IMHO, an unassailable gesture of respect and humility. Kneeling honors God and petitions God to intervene to save what is left of America.
First of all thank you! Your reply was very respectful and well spoken. I failed to mention in my initial post that I did know that Colin chose to kneel because of not only honoring God, but also for fallen soldiers. The man in the first picture in this post is a military member that Colin essentially "hit the drawing board" with to avoid being viewed as disrespectful. I think this was amazing that he was willing to take other individuals thoughts and feelings into his ideas for protesting equality.
My problem is I know you are right. I know that there isn't a way to protest that unifies the country without causing more divide because they are conflicting ideas....but the problem is that I can't accept this. I have to hope and believe that there is always a way to make things better. If i quit believing in this...then what is left?
Also I feel your pain on the upvotes. I am the same, but I'm still having fun and trying to figure this all out. I have to say it is fun thus far.
@larryt20 - My goodness, it's been four days and somehow I must have missed your reply! Usually I'm much better about continuing an unfinished conversation. So lets talk about small matters first. I do not understand the voting system at all. It is in some way related to author and curation rewards which affect payouts and wallet value. In other words, it's beyond me. There is a penalty for voting within the first 30 minutes after a new post appears, but an upvote after seven days is wasted except for its positive impact on morale. Who made up these rules? Wiser minds than ours?
Regarding the players' protest, what I so greatly admire about the decision to kneel is the respectful, non-confrontational, imploring posture. Kneeling invites the wisdom of God to govern and guide an ongoing dialogue about unresolved concerns. You are so right that we must always hope and pray and work for peaceful solutions in all things.
Congratulations @larryt20! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCongratulations @larryt20! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP