Changes

 Week Seven: Changes

And these children that you spit on

As they try to change their worlds

Are immune to your consultations

They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

--David Bowie, Changes, from Hunky Dory

When Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel instead of stand during the pregame performance of the National Anthem, like many others, I noticed his behavior. Later, I listened to his reasons.

When the students of over 3000 American high schools participated in an orchestrated walkout of class, I knew of their rationale before I saw them do it, and it appeared to me that the majority of the folks who expressed their opinions on social media had listened to their reason(s) prior to considering their behavior.

Perhaps one of the differences was that the walkout was planned, publicized, and highly anticipated whereas Kaepernick just knelt down when we thought he ought to stand up.

This is how I see both: People who kneel during the playing of the National Anthem and people who leave class without permission claim they are protesting, but at first glance the behaviors we see have nothing to do with the things they protest. The behaviors do, on the other hand, make us notice. After we notice, we have the opportunity to listen...and to understand.

 So what are they protesting? Kaepernick wanted to see significant progress toward improving social justice and racial equality. Seems reasonable. Kaepernick was very clear. In fact, he never wavered. “I want these things to change. I do know it will be a process, and it is not something that will change overnight. But I think there are some major changes that we can make that are very reasonable.” To draw attention to himself and the message he championed, he knelt during the National Anthem. To very many Americans that’s the part that seemed unreasonable.

The high schoolers want the end to gun violence. Certainly more than reasonable, but the causes of their protest are far more complicated than that. Perhaps a good way to summarize the issue(s) that prompted such a widespread protest is to say they want significant changes in gun control legislation...and unlike Kaepernick who talks of a process that won’t happen quickly, the students want changes to gun control legislation immediately.

So what did they do? Kaepernick said in essence: Hey y’all look here. I’m kneeling when you think I should be standing. Now that I have your attention let me tell you something…

The students said in essence: We know where we are supposed to be...in class. We know we need permission to leave. We want you to know that we are the survivors among the most vulnerable victims of people who would use guns to commit mass murder. On this date and this time, we...a whole lot of us...are going to get your attention. And when you notice, perhaps you will listen and then do something.

I’ve thought about these two things: Kaepernick’s kneeling and the student walkout, and I’ve concluded that neither actually protests the things they want spotlighted...the things they want changed; and I’ve also concluded that both could hardly have been more effective in keeping those issues in a national spotlight.

I’ve decided that both displayed rare courage. Kaepernick’s tampering with a traditional ritual as old as this country: patriotism; the students defying authority, but both must have decided that the consequences paled in comparison to the potential reward.

Speaking of the consequences, for the thousands of students who left class, the consequences appear to have been nothing, except public adoration and endorsements from teachers, civic leaders, and the RESISTERS among us, not to mention the eternal gratitude of the gun control advocates.

What happened to Kaepernick? His football career ended.

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Society is littered with proof that we do, in fact, admire the pioneers of social change. Street names in every state as well as monuments and museums memorialize civil rights leaders like MLK, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers. As such what I really wonder is if Kaepernick’s behavior was in essence any different than calling for a boycott or ordering a strike or refusing to move seats. I’ve decided that it is not. 

Now as I watch news reports showing sign-carrying teenagers as they try to change their worlds, I see their growing disillusionment, their fear that schools will never really be safe, and possibly the realization that they are not being taken seriously. I truly wonder if the adults to whom they make their case are listening, or even if those adults hear what is being said. I wonder if such a walkout could possibly prompt enough momentum to bring sweeping change to legislation and legislators alike; but even more I wonder if it is not we who are immune to their consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbnJo88kuP8