Do you get it now?

Why?  I sincerely ask that question because I admit, I don’t know.  I know what I have experienced and felt.  I know that it has not been acceptable.  I know that things are not just.  I’m not going to suggest equal because it will never be equal, nor should it.  Equality is homogeneous (one gender, one race, one hair color, one height, one physique).  Being just is being fair.  Fairness is admitting the lack of equality and permitting for the obstacles to be withdrawn.  Fairness is not allowing others to win because it makes you feel good and them happy.  Fairness is working through troubles to overcome barriers but also admitting if the challenges have been placed upon others as well.

The first amendment to the United States COnstitution allows citizens to speak their minds, to petition the government (local, state, and federal) for a redress of ANYTHING they see of value to protest.  For instance, if one feels they have been harmed by the amount to caffeine in soda and they, although erroneously, believe that the government has anything to do with this topic; they have the right to be heard if they want to use their time and resources to protest that issue, as inane as it is.  I have head from many, on television, online, in print, and in-person, that Colin Kaepernick’s protest was terrible and he was being disrespectful to the troops.  I have found that logic problematic and have been outspoken against that faulty sensibility as they were not clear on what it was he was protesting.  However, I haven’t been able to identify effectively what I knew was present, what I knew was wrong.  Continually, I have tried to be an open ear to the unfairness persisting within the country and I remain willing to listen to any opinion, fact, thought, or reality.  I want to hear.

What I currently find lacking is the voices of the people who spoke out against Colin Kaepernick.  Their silence is concerning, now that it has become clear the reality of which he was protesting; the very few “bad apples” in the police force, but also the systemic racism that empowered an officer to misuse his role.  The silence is not problematic in that it is not clear their views were erroneous.  The problematic silence stems from their unwillingness to admit their error in judgment.  I cannot possibly understand what it means to be a minority in this country, and I do not want to speak for anyone other than myself, but my feeling is that if contrarians to Colin Kaepernick were to concede their views were mistaken and grant there is a problem the acceptance of their being a problem would go a long way.  This may begin to qualify their reality and allow them a semblance of being heard; perhaps healing could begin.  Instead, people are digging their heels in.

I am not the one to tell anyone what to feel about issues and topics that affect their lives.  I also cannot ignore that there are injustices in this country of which I am a proud citizen.  Until those injustices have at least been acknowledged, I will not begin to feel proud of what this country is doing to its citizens.