Mahatma Gandhi became one of the most influential leaders because of his dedication to pacifism. He once said, "an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." He was not one for violence. He lived his life in peaceful protest of the tyrannical British rule of India and advocated for the poor and the outcast. The words he spoke, "in a gentle way, you can shake the world," could be the title of his biography. Martin Luther King Jr. took a trip to India to learn about Gandhi and his teachings. He came back an enlightened man, empowered with the concept of Peaceful Protest.
Peaceful protest became the defining characteristic of King's demonstrations. He found it the more effective and the ethically higher road. He stated, "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." He saw that violent acts of protest did nothing more than make the majority hate and fear his group more, and the only way to bring about lasting change was through a legal exercise of his rights as an american citizen.
The first amendment is what peaceful protest relies on. It protects the individual's ability to say what he believes as long as it is not slanderous or untruthful. It also protects the right of a group of individuals to gather together. Whenever King and his colleagues were jailed, it was always on false charges, because they never did anything illegal.
King and Gandhi have inspired individuals for generations after their lifetimes. Today in the United States, most of the rallies and protests we see are fashioned after King's. We even see prominent individuals taking a stand for injustices by themselves, and use their spotlight and status to cause echos across the chasm of the status quo. I would like to highlight two such protests.
In 1968, the summer Olympic games were held in Mexico City. Racial tensions were high, not only in the US, but across the world. For a brief moment, during the playing of the US national anthem following the medal ceremony for the 200 meter dash, the world watched in awe. Two american runners, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who had won Gold and Bronze respectively, bowed their heads and raised their fists as a symbol of protest and support of the human rights movement.
Typically, after winning an Olympic medal, athletes are awarded sponsorship deals, and showered with offers and fame. This did not happen. Instead, the whole stadium erupted in racist heckling, the two were kicked out of the Olympic Village, and returned home to death threats. The third man on the podium, Australian Silver medalist Peter Norman, did not raise his fist, but wore a badge supporting the Olympic Project for Human Rights (a group organized to protest the ill-treatment of minorities all over the world) and stood by his fellow medalist's actions. His career was destroyed for this simple act. At the next Olympics, Australia chose not to send a sprinter at all, rather than send Norman. To read more about this incredible story of bravery and dedication, follow this link.
The next story I would like to comment on is much more recent, and possibly has a much greater inflammatory response within today's public. It is the story of Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick was born to a single mother who thought she could not adequately provide for him, so she saw fit to place him for adoption. He was adopted by a white family who soon after relocated to California where Kaepernick was able to participate in youth football leagues. He quickly fell in love with the sport. After an eventful college career, he was drafted into the NFL. By the time our story gets interesting, he was one of the main quarterbacks for the San Francisco 49ers.
He recognized his situation. He knew he was black. Regardless of who raised him, he felt a deep connection to the suffering that ongoing racial injustice caused his African-American brothers and sisters, even if he did not feel it himself. He realized he was in a place of prominence and influence, and so he decided to do something about it. During the playing of the National Anthem at the beginning of each football game, he would remain sitting on the bench rather than stand with his team on the sidelines. Nate Boyer, a retired green beret marine, noticed this and respected his reasoning for doing so. Boyer wrote an open letter to Kaepernick the following summer expressing his frustrations about the protest, and a general invitation to improve it. Kaepernick later met with Boyer to discuss Boyer's suggestions.
Boyer expressed that kneeling is a standard sign of respect. Soldiers kneel at the graves of their fallen comrades, religious people kneel before their God, etc. Kaepernick heeded the marine's advice. He never intended to be disrespectful, but simply wanted to use his position of power to advocate for those who could not advocate for themselves. His actions had a greater effect than he could have ever imagined. Athletes throughout the NFL and the US began protesting with him during the national anthem. Ordinary citizens started the hashtag #ImWithKap, and the conservative population blew a gasket. Many claims surfaced that he was disrespecting the flag and the many veterans, soldiers, and first responders that stood behind it. Hatred of him grew like a cancer. All of this ended in him terminating his contract with the 49ers and taking a sabbatical from football. He did have a feature in one of Nike's most controversial ads in 2018 (watch here) that sustained his stance in favor of human rights. To read more of Kaepernick and his story, follow this link.
We should all strive to be on the right side of history. To ensure that we are, we need to respect the rights and voice of every individual regardless of where they come from or whether or not we agree with them.
Feel free to reach out to me with any comments. Thanks for reading.
"We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers." -Bayard Rustin