Taking a Step

photo credit – Imaginative Conservative

Taking a Step

Taking a step together is more effective than taking a knee in silence. It’s not about the veterans, freedom of speech, the NFL, or the president. It’s about relationships, and the individuals who make up this nation. We need to focus on how to produce unity, and truly be the “U.S.” that we should be. It’s about going BEYOND a display of disagreement, and actually taking steps toward what we want as a country. It’s like saving a marriage; it’s going to take intention and action, but it works.

For weeks, I have listened to individuals on both sides of this debate. I have listened to those who are disgusted, and I have listened to those who are disgusted by the disgusted. It just goes on and on.

My initial opinion of everything was, “Can’t these guys go about this in a way that doesn’t disrespect a great number of others? Are they considering the big picture of what it means when we stand together for the anthem? Are they allowed to do it at their place of employment?” I had so many questions….I still do.

After I expressed my initial reaction, I discovered that Colin Kaepernick received counsel from a Navy Green Beret last year when he decided he would protest. He did consider the veterans. He did consider how he would approach this. This is something that’s not widely publicized because it doesn’t fit the narrative. The narrative is division. The narrative is that the sky is falling.

I have read articles, and listened to interviews. I have just taken in everything, and processed what I have heard and seen. While doing that, there are a lot of things that came to my mind.

This situation is a lot like giving the silent treatment to your spouse or partner.

You know how it goes. I’m guilty of doing it. Something makes you mad that your partner or spouse did, and instead of telling him or her right away, you just choose to give them the silent treatment. You give them a peaceful, silent protest to their actions or words. That’s it. Nothing else.

Colin Kaepernick and the players who have followed his lead are upset. They are upset by the social injustice that occurs in this country within minorities. To show their feelings, they take a knee during the anthem at the beginning of every NFL game. They are giving their rightful, peaceful, and silent protest. That’s it. Nothing else. They’re just giving the message that they have had enough. This is ok, but what will follow it?

Just like in a relationship or marriage, the silent treatment isn’t going to solve anything. What typically solves problems in a relationship solves problems amongst a large group of people. For starters, we need to communicate better. I’ve learned time and time again that the most important part of communication is listening. Listening is complex, and it takes careful thought. It’s when your mouth is shut, your ears are open, your mental filters are turned off, and you genuinely focus on what the other person is saying. You don’t form responses in your head while they talk. You just listen. When you really listen to one another, then progress can start happening.

Whatever it is that you want, you have to be that for others….first. You have to give what you want.

If you want your partner to give you love, then you have to give love to them first. To experience unity, you need to be an example of unity to others in the first place. If you want other people to respect you, then you need to respect them first. When taking a stand and wanting change, you have to consider the audience you’re speaking to. If there’s a good chance you’re going to make a lot of the people mad in your audience, then be ready for that.

Regardless of Colin K’s intentions, or anyone else’s intentions, there are still going to be people who feel strongly against kneeling for the national anthem. That in itself will cloud their ability to understand where these athletes are coming from.

Again, if certain things would have been widely communicated (Kaepernick getting counsel from a Green Beret on how to properly protest) in the first place when this protesting started, it probably would have prevented a lot of hard feelings and confusion. With our media the way it is, it’s hard to depend upon anyone to communicate this because unity doesn’t equate to high ratings. Unity also doesn’t fit the current narrative they’re trying to force either.  Speaking of which….

With every media company’s own agenda, and the influence of politics, it’s always going to be a challenge to come together.

Labeling and categorizing is a disease in our society, which is further spread by the media. Additionally, people judge you because of who you voted for, or what your opinion is on a national issue. Even if you’re not dedicated to a political party,  you get labeled as belonging to one. Until we ease up on the political filters amongst one another, there is no hope in coming together.

Putting a focus more on “American” rather than Republican, Democrat, Liberal, or Conservative would make huge progress in itself.

We can be different and agree to disagree. We can be different in our views, but keep the big picture in tact: we are together in all of this.

It’s merely impossible to not label or categorize because of our media and political system. They are the machines that keep the dividing going. So in that case, we need to remind ourselves of this. It’s that simple. Sometimes taking a step back and looking at the big picture makes you realize this. We can either let the powers that be continue to deepen the divisions in our society, or we can flip the script. It’s ultimately up to us. Are you willing to be a pawn in someone else’s game, or think about things independently…aside from the labels? You choose.

All you have to do is research the statistics and the facts.

When you look at the cold, hard facts, you’ll see that in many cases people are manipulating events. They are spreading falsehoods, and most of all, exaggeration and ignorance are dominating our “credible sources” of information.

Go to government online sources containing criminal activity records. The numbers tell the real story. Watch interviews with people on YouTube. Read individual’s posts on social media. Engage in respectful conversation. Those are the ways in which we can learn from each other and move forward.

Rather than take a knee, let’s take a step. Let’s listen to each other.

Taking a knee, or giving the silent treatment is stagnant. Nothing changes, and we don’t move forward. Rather than kneeling, we need to take a step forward when that song starts. We need to take the strides necessary to bring people together on these issues. Our president isn’t going to do that. The government isn’t going to do that. We need to do that. We need to take off our labeling lenses, respect each other in our efforts, and listen to each other as individuals, families, and communities.

Unifying as a country can only happen one person at a time. I’m focusing on the big picture. I’m listening. Are you?