A Mile in His Shoes

I have spent a great deal of time contemplating not only my position on kneeling during the National Anthem but also the Nike campaign with Colin Kaepernick.

I was raised by a man, my dad, who loved this country more than most. I was taught to be respectful of our National Anthem and to respect the flag (memories of racing home from an outing to make sure we got the flag down before the sun went down), but more importantly I was raised to celebrate the tremendous good fortune of being born in this country and to be grateful for the freedoms I enjoy thanks to 1) the sacrifices my ancestors made immigrating to this country so that I could have a better life and 2) the ultimate sacrifices made by the men and women who fought and died so that I may enjoy the freedoms that come with being a citizen of the US.

Sacrifice – Many have been disgusted by Colin Kaepernick’s claim of having made sacrifices by comparing his “sacrifice” to that of Pat Tillman, but I believe Colin Kaepernick would NEVER suggest that his sacrifice can compare. Can we talk about why Pat Tillman made the decision to give up his NFL position to serve? He made it so he could contribute to protecting our freedoms. He stepped on to the front line, making the ULTIMATE sacrifice, so that Colin Kaepernick’s freedom to speak and freedom to protest was protected.

I can say that I know NO sacrifice comparable to those that served in our armed forces. I can, however, speak to the sacrifices made by military families – I lived that reality and I made those sacrifices because I love this country. There are varying degrees of sacrifice and for those who take offense to Colin Kaepernick saying that he made sacrifices I say this to you – we make sacrifices in our life daily for our family, we make sacrifices to pursue our dreams. Some make sacrifices to become the best in their field - in their sport. Colin Kaepernick dedicated many years of his life to the game of football and worked hard to play at a level that most boys can only dream of. He reached that level of play by, of course, making sacrifices. Because of his very public protest, he sacrificed his standing in the NFL. You can say all you want that he just wasn’t that good … but from what I know of football, he would still be, at the very least, riding the bench with another organization. That’s neither here nor there. At the end of the day, he did sacrifice his career by taking a knee.

Protest – peaceful protest. From day one I have applauded the manner by which Colin Kaepernick’s protest was carried out. He recognized that there was a major problem with police brutality within his community and instead of going out and rioting – instead of shooting at police, he decided to exercise his right to protest peacefully. I often say to people with whom I am debating this topic that I will never know what it is like to walk in the shoes of an African American man. I will never know what it is like to have to make a conscious decision to store my driver’s license and registration in the sun visor of my car for fear of a police officer misconstruing my reach for the glove box. This is REAL people. This is REALLY happening. Many who are reading this post have never had to worry about walking after dark in an affluent neighborhood looking over their shoulder for fear of getting stopped and questioned, for no reasonable reason whatsoever, just because of the color of your skin. Until you KNOW what that is like, you can never know the rage that boils in a man’s blood that might inspire him take a knee during the National Anthem. He used his celebrity as a megaphone to draw attention to the problem (and for the record, I applaud any celebrity who uses their platform to speak to social injustices). Instead of allowing that rage to fester and motivate destructive behavior, Colin Kaepernick paused and considered whether the flag and the National Anthem truly was representative of how certain minorities are treated in this country and he decided to take a knee, peacefully and respectfully to say, “NO, what is happening to my community in this country is not ok.”

I applaud Colin Kaepernick. If you don’t agree with my position, I totally respect that, but I beg you, don’t burn your NIKE merchandise. There are people in need that would gladly take shoes, shirts, shorts and socks off your hands no matter what logo they adorn. DONATE.

I will close with this - one of life’s most precious and valuable lessons, in my humble opinion, is that of considering what it is like to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and, in turn, having empathy for the challenges that our brothers and sisters in humanity endure.

I have a feeling I will be engaged in a healthy debate about this with my pops this weekend. 😊

Peace and love, my friends!