With everything that is flooding social media right now I sat down at my computer with extreme writer’s block. I’m flabbergasted, blindsided, and just confused in general, but really I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m not political and I hate controversy. I would rather shove glass into my eyeballs than state what I believe on the internet, but there is something I have to get off of my chest. As a writer, I cannot not write this because I’ll regret not taking the one action I know how to take. You may not agree and that’s fine, but I can’t let it go. Here it is… This is all getting out of control.
I don’t follow sports. The only time I watch football is when we’re going to a party that has free food, because finger food is the best food. When choosing who to root for I choose whoever has the prettier uniform. The only teams I truly root for no matter what are Texas teams because I at least know my roots. I couldn’t tell you any quarterback’s name unless it’s Tony Romo or someone who is mentioned constantly. So when Colin Kaepernick suddenly flooded social media I was only able to focus on what everyone else was saying about him. It’s safe to say that I have a ton of conservative friends. I also have friends who are or are family of military or police officers. Therefore at first all I saw was how negative this would be for Nike. As the other side slowly began to rise up I had no idea what to believe. Immediately I began researching, OUTSIDE of Facebook, I’ll pause for a second for you to pick your jaw up from the floor…. I watched the ad itself. I listened to the message Nike offered and honestly parts of it were inspiring. I read news reports on Nike’s stock since their campaign launched, I asked friends what they thought, and I read up on Kaepernick himself. Then and only then did I form my own opinion. Am I going to share it? Of course not. Why? Because who cares. If you know me then you might be able to guess where I stand, but I won’t debate you.
What I care about is the fact that Facebook has become an appropriate site to get your opinions and your facts. What I care about is that we believe that by slandering each other over the internet we’re accomplishing something. Nike picked someone surrounded by controversy because any publicity good or bad is good publicity. By choosing controversy they’re selling more shoes. That’s it. Nike might be offering up a jab at the President because in the end it’s all a political campaign, but really who cares. The President is a big boy and can take care of himself. Nike’s new spokesperson has made it very clear that he does not appreciate cops, he helped lead a protest against Trump and police brutality and maybe the flag, and according to google he wasn’t very good at football. Therefore, Nike could possibly be taking a stance against police officers or military personnel, but I know for a fact that the men and women who wake up everyday and put on a uniform are not going to waver or stop taking their job seriously. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are still going to be proud of those who sacrifice their lives, because they believed in freedom and justice. That’s about all I found in my research. He’s not a hero and in about two months or maybe less he won’t be talked about anymore. That’s how this works and that’s how it’s always worked. It’s a news cycle. This is a big deal now, but in a few weeks or so something else will happen and we’ll all move on. Example: Ebola, Moonlight versus La La Land, breastfeeding in public, the Malaysia Flight 370, any election ever, Pokémon, and the list continues.
As a police wife did I feel a little slap in the face by Nike? Yeah a little. Am I about to go burn my hundred dollar shoes? No. They’re comfortable for running, they’re cute, they were a gift, and the shoes are expensive. If I’m tired of the shoes they go to Goodwill or even the homeless. If I tried to ban every product or store that said something I didn’t agree with I’d be a wreck. I wouldn’t know how to live without my Frappuccinos, I’d have to avoid half the mall, and I’d have to start walking everywhere. I’m not doing it. I can disagree and maybe even protest without acting like a hooligan. If you have a giant platform like the NFL and want to protest and whoever your employer is allows it than fine. The second we start trying to silence others is the second that we become just as bad as some of the nations around us. If you want to post your beliefs all over social media than fine, but don’t be offended if someone disagrees with a post you put out there for the public. If you can’t handle conflicting beliefs than you don’t need to be on the internet.
Luckily we live in America and peaceful protest is an amendment and a birthright. We’re encouraged to use our voice and we’re told we make a difference, and we do. However, we’ve gotten out of control. The bottom line is that we’re spoiled. We sit there claiming the right to protest and speak our mind, but are offended the second anyone has anything to say against us. Everything is taken personally. We’re allowed to have opinions, but everyone else must have the same opinion. That’s not how the world works. People are allowed to have individuality. Honestly, I believe the root of this is that we believe in “something.” By just believing in something we believe in nothing. I watched a YouTuber who stated that Nike didn’t say believe in truth or morals just believe in something. He then stated that Hitler, Stalin, and others like them believed in something. They didn’t believe in justice, but they believed in something and sacrificed everything and entire generations. This mindset is weak. This mindset states that I can be whoever I want and hurt whoever I want in the process because I believe. This mindset creates selfishness. Don’t just believe in something, believe in justice. Believe in change for the good of our nation, not just the good of yourself. Believe in love or hope or faith. Believe in having morals. Believe in compassion. Believe in friendship.
Nike’s commercial was inspiring to a point while showing athletes who, despite their obstacles overcame and defeated giants. They were on the right track while stating that you should dream crazy dreams and you should! You’re dreams should drive you forward. Your dreams should push you to do the things that everyone else says you can’t. It’s a great message. It’s even a biblical message. However, what is not biblical is division and strife. Defying authority is not biblical. Choosing to use your influence to lead people astray is not biblical and that is where I base my opinions. Unfortunately, not everything can be black or white, but you do have your own moral compass for a reason.
Don’t get so caught up in what someone else stated on Facebook that an hour later you’re still typing furiously on your phone or computer going back and forth with some stranger or even a family member or friend. You’re wasting your time. No big change ever came from some conversation or argument on Facebook. Change happens when we put actions to our words. You want to boycott fine, but you don’t need to blast the people who don’t. I may not boycott something, but at least I know what I believe and why I believe it. Don’t be so quick to speak harshly to your neighbor. Let it go because two months from now no one will care.
There are bigger issues in the world than who is the face of Nike. After his contract is over it’ll be someone else who’s relevant. He’ll go on making millions of dollars and the world will keep spinning. If you want to stand up for something, then great, but make sure it’s for all the right reasons. If you want to protest than do it, but don’t just protest because that’s what everyone else is doing. If you think your voice needs to be heard than by all means shout from the mountain tops, but don’t just talk for the sake of hearing yourself or hurting others. Make sure you know what you believe and why you believe it. Don’t just read some article on social media and decide that everything else and everyone else is wrong. Slow down. Breathe. Research. Don’t just pick something. Put your energy into real injustices like sex trafficking or child labor. Pick a side on abortion and know why you picked it. Research the cases that are claiming police brutality and decide for yourself if it really was. In fact don’t just let your race black, white, Chinese, Indian, or whatever tell you how you should feel based on your skin color. If you feel your race, your family, or people you love are being oppressed than find out why you feel that way and do something about it. Don’t let social media tell you how you feel or how others are treating you, because social media nine times out of ten is wrong. Once you take a side know why you did and don’t be mad when someone disagrees, because in the end it won’t matter what someone else thinks. If you see an article that sparks something in you, make sure it’s credible, Facebook is not a credible source, and then speak out. All that matters is what you changed and how you handled yourself. In fifteen years are you going to want to look back on your pointless internet fight with Susan and realize you were wrong so you hurt strangers or that you were right but you sat idly by and nothing changed? Stop bickering like children, man up, and don’t just believe in something, but believe in yourself. Sacrifice the right things not just everything. Believe in truth and sacrifice pride. Believe in justice and sacrifice your fears. Choose a side, know why you chose it, don’t waver, and then do something about it besides typing a defense on Facebook.
I believe that the bottom line is that it’s okay to protest or ban, but don’t get defensive when someone protests or bans something that’s against your beliefs. You could be wrong or you could be right, but in the end it won’t matter unless change happened. In the end, whatever you’re arguing about will be irrelevant when the next big thing happens. As a nation and as people in general we have to stop believing that the world revolves around us. Compared to the world and compared to all of the galaxies were minuscule. There’s a bigger picture than what’s going on with social media. Put your energy somewhere else. Realize that your beliefs will be different than your neighbors, talk about it like adults should, and move on. We’re not promised tomorrow and life’s too short to waste it on Nike shoes and a quarterback who was losing his job well before he started protesting. We have come really far as a nation and it would be a real shame to be the ones who started going backwards.
Raising Mountains 