As I sit here, during Black History Month, shortly after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, it’s hard not to reflect upon what’s going on around me. It been a common thought that the veteran community is one cohesive entity: shared goals, shared aspirations, shared struggles, et al. However, the veteran community is a microcosm of society, forged in the crucible of battle. After all, we are made from society at large and transformed through experience. Thus, while we tend to have a mutual respect and basic understanding of one another’s service, we do move in our own directions.
One such example of a lack of unity within the veteran community was reactions, or responses, to NFL athletes protesting. For the purpose of tact, I’ll refer to two places: The Organization, or Org for short, and The Circle. In a gathering in October 2017, The Org entertained the idea of banning the NFL from their premises. I was baffled, momentarily stunned even. The idea was so foreign to me it was asinine. The Org is comprised entirely of veterans, defenders of free speech! Yet, they were seriously entertaining the idea of banning speech with which they didn’t agree.
I entered this conversation. I was on the backfoot from the start, being unaware and confused this was even a possibility. These protests have a pretty unambiguous message: Racial Injustice. Unfortunately, racial injustice is not a new phenomenon in the USA. Whether we look at: the criminal justice system, how people get hired or compensated, who gets approved for loans, and routine daily interactions, the message of ‘I’ll stand for you when you stand for me’ has merit; citizens in the black community have been left behind. It’s objective reality.
In addition to asking why the Org is taking issue with a league that is approximately 70% African-American raising awareness about issues that impact their community, I inquired as to why we are taking issue with a silent and peaceful protest. We, if anyone at all, should be on the forefront defending this. This is an example of what it’s all about: not shooting anyone from hotel windows, or running people over with cars, no racist slogans, no riot gear, no intimidation tactics at all. A peaceful protest.
I quickly learned none of that mattered. People at the Org had co-opted the message to make it to be about them. They had been disrespected, and as such the NFL had to go. The Org was disrespected, they disagreed with what was going on, so they were going to get rid of it. A vote was held, and by a narrow majority a ban was put in place. I walked away amazed, I knew I needed to bring it up at The Circle at tomorrow’s gathering.
I brought it up at the first opportunity I had was essentially laughed out of the room. The veterans of the Circle didn’t even take me seriously, I had to go out of my way to explain the whole story. I had to walk them through the concept that a group of veterans voted to ban the NFL. They were nearly as amazed as I was. The Circle is a exponentially more diverse group of veterans: racially, spiritually, generationally, etc. We sat and tried to wrap our heads around it. In December 2017, we would hold a tailgate themed party at The Circle, and I would watch the Super Bowl with members of The Circle.
In November 2017, at The Org, it was brought up that other members didn’t really get a chance to have their say. No one knew this was coming and it was the talk of the town. The Ban was kept in place and we would revisit it in December 2017 now that everyone knew to come. The discussions in December 2017 were just as disheartening, but in a different way: they centered around themes like ‘we already made a statement, how can we change course now?’ and ‘how has this affected our business?’ despite initially arguing this was about principles not business. Again, I received no acknowledgment of what the protests actually meant. Another vote was held and again by a slim majority the Ban was kept. Twice now, The Org has banned the NFL.
In January 2018, with the realities of their decision having fully settled in, certain members of The Org tried to stretch some technicalities and definitions so they could show the Super Bowl, despite having banned the entire NFL thus far. These were the same people who helped ban the NFL in the first place. I, as well as others, weren’t having it. This was clearly a business decision and what appeared to be a hypocritical one at that. The vote failed, and shortly thereafter I received an email about closing the place down early on that Sunday. I, again remembering this was never supposed to be a business decision as per the ban supporters, reminded them of that and voted to keep the place open for the rest of the Org.
Throughout this entire process, I can’t recall ever receiving an actual acknowledgment from a ban supporter that racial injustice is a real issue in the USA. I was informed at some point, however, The Civil War had nothing to do with slavery. This individual maintained his position even after I read him The Cornerstone Speech. The Circle gave me a series of stunned looks and puzzled faces from that one too. The Circle, as with most other veterans I interact with, embrace our diversity and respect our differences.
Racial injustice is a real issue in the USA. It has been for ages. The NFL athletes are not the first to point it out, and they’re not likely to be the last. It saddens me that a group of veterans, even if generally a narrow majority of a particular demographic, would choose to ban speech they disagree with due to a message they themselves co-opted. It’s several layers of erroneous. It does, however, highlight a few things: we still have a lot of work to do as a country, and we are not one cohesive entity but we do treat one another with respect in our veteran community.
Author’s Note: Further discussions regarding ‘respect’ involved actual Flag Code items: “The Flag should never be used as apparel,” “The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally,” and “No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform,” are all things listed under section 8 “Respect for flag” and were all generally dismissed by the pro-ban crowd, despite many of them being in violation of the flag code themselves at the time of the discussion and were using the ‘disrespect’ angle as their chief argument. It does add some context overall, but is better as a footnote. Other details, such as the the DoD-NFL partnership, while somewhat relevant overall aren’t really important from a 1st person perspective story.
(Note: VA Arts Show 2018 Gold Medal Winner – Personal Experience, Other)