I’m going to start off by saying I
really do not care about this topic as there are far more important things
going on in the universe. For example, the
US debt just hit $20 trillion, Angela Merkel just got a fourth
term as German chancellor, classes are busy as ever, and I’ve started
writing again. However, my news feed is
being barraged with people arguing or giving their thoughts on the recent
player protests where some aren’t standing for the national anthem and I find
myself both annoyed by it and having trouble not responding to it because I
feel a need to always give my thoughts on everything (which is a problem). So instead of responding to it, I’m just going
to make a post here with my thoughts and then get on with it. To sum up: it is usually a bad idea to
protest the flag or the national anthem or any other symbol of patriotism
because it loses the people who care about it without winning anyone over.
From my experience, there are two
types of people on the flag issue: those who don’t care either way and those
who don’t want the flag protested. I haven’t seen anyone out there who is
openly saying “YEAH, DOWN WITH THE FLAG!!!
LET’S FLIP IT THE BIRD EVERYTIME WE WALK BY IT!!!” so that group doesn’t
really seem to exist. In general, those
who do protest it by kneeling during the national anthem, burn it, or
otherwise, usually do so as a method of voicing their frustration towards other
issues in American society. This is
significantly different from the debate over the Confederate moments as
proponents actually debate the merit of those monuments whereas here it is
about what the image represents. The
problem is that this is largely lost on supporters of the flag as they view it
as an attack on what the flag represents: the country, the constitution, etc.
Throughout history, there have been
protests against the flag (such as during the Viet Nam War, the Iraq War, etc.)
where it has been burned, defamed, or otherwise in opposition to US
policy. There has been much debate over
this and the Supreme Court has held that this is protected by the first
amendment, but usually the protesting of the flag has sparked pure
backlash. Objectively, there is a
segment of the country that does take it as a symbol of what America stands for
(or should stand for) so going after it is deemed as an attack on the country
more than anything else. Though these
statements are probably unfair, based on the aforementioned logic it should
come as no surprise that those who do protest symbols like the flag are accused
of “hating America.” Inevitably, the
message is lost and the action comes across as an insult.
Since the act comes across as an
insult, the average protester will lose the person they make angry. As was noted by Dale Carnegie in the book “How
to Win Friends and Influence People,” no one likes to be belittled or insulted
so you are inevitably going to have people not take you seriously with that
reaction. Since there is a vocal group
that does take the flag so seriously, this method becomes ineffective since it
guarantees people won’t care what you have to say no matter how important you
think it is and thus you’ve already lost them.
Also, as previously mentioned, the only other side is a group that doesn’t
care about the protests period so you’re not really winning anyone over to
replace the people you are losing.
Taking a look at the issue the NFL
players claim to be protesting in favor of, criminal justice cannot happen
without conservative and liberal support.
Louisiana managed to pass ten
laws on criminal justice reform despite having a Democratic governor and Republican
legislature and in Illinois a
bill aimed at helping previous offenders get a business license (which
would reduce recidivism rates) was introduced by a Democrat and signed into law
by a Republican governor. As is the case
with many issues, people need to come together to focus on the importance of
the topic to get support. However, the
only things these protests seem to be doing is making criminal justice reform
look bad and driving away a group of people.
Whether people are right or wrong to be upset, the blowback is going to
turn people off to the issue.
There are going to be responses to
the argument I’m making. Two I’ve
already heard include “it’s not about the method, it’s about the ideas behind
it,” and “everyone must do their part to protest so these celebrities should
use their time to draw attention to more important topics.” Well first, yes, it is about the method and
that’s probably the most important part of advocacy. I’ve worked in many campaigns so I know for a
fact that if I had walked up to a potential voter and said “I don’t give a crap
about your issues, vote for my guy,” I’d probably lose my candidate a
vote. To truly win people over, you have
to reach out to them where they are.
Going back to Carnegie and based on
my own experiences, you are more likely to win people over or influence them by
getting on their level. Understanding
where they’re coming from, making them feel like they’re important, addressing their
concerns, and relating important issues to them is far more likely to win them
over than anything else. It also creates
empathy as you begin to understand them more and why they feel that way. It can help build connections despite
differences. In a country that believes
itself to be horribly divided, this is would be very beneficial.
As for the celebrity argument, movie
stars, celebrities, etc. are usually really bad advocates for much of
anything. The average football player is
going to be worth millions of dollars more than the average person. Colin Kaepernick is estimated to have a
net worth of about $22 million so he’s not really someone the average
person will identify with. Considering
the fact that the average victim of police violence or problems with the
criminal justice system is going to be dirt poor, he’s a bad representative of
the people who are actually impacted. As
a result, people probably aren’t going to take his thoughts or the thoughts of
other players all that seriously.
In the grand scheme of things, most
people don’t like being talked down to where they are. The reason people don’t like it when famous
people talk politics is because most of these people don’t experience the same
problems the common man does to the same level.
Many people have to worry about providing for themselves, their kids,
finding a job, etc. and that’s not a problem Hollywood or even Washington
regularly experiences. So when more
prominent individuals like actors or politicians or singers try to tell people
how to think, it comes across as elitist.
Considering the fact that none of the NFL players are really giving up
anything besides having to be in a possibly uncomfortable position for a few
minutes, they’re not sacrificing anything of note and probably won’t be taken
seriously.
If you truly want to win someone
over, be their friend. Just do what was
said in a previous paragraph: get to know them, understand their perspective,
empathize with them, and help them to see things for themselves. People will always take people they know more
seriously than some pundit on TV. Case
in point, there was a black man by the name of Daryl Davis who managed
to get 200 people to leave the KKK by befriending them. Building social capital can improve relations
and bring people together. That’s the
only way to improve things.
So as I said, the issue of the flag
protesting isn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. Also, I do understand the importance of criminal
justice reform as I
have written about
it quite
a bit. However, I find the issue to
be overly divisive which would probably drive people away and make them less
likely to take it seriously. Constantly
virtue signaling and going on about how important supposed values are without
actually putting support behind it and reaching out to people where they are
won’t go anywhere. So if society truly
does want to make things better, it has to promote empathy and understanding.