On the Side| Brad Hicks

A decade ago or so, a preacher friend of mine gave a sermon about being unoffendable. His point was it’s hard to live a heartfelt joyful existence, or live in repentance, if you get upset every time someone does or says something that offends you.

Think about it.

Do you get upset when someone in front of you doesn’t proceed when the light turns green?

Do you want to give “what-for” to the person who cut in line ahead of you at the concession stand?

Do you have an urge to give the editor a piece of your mind when you don’t like something that was in the paper?

Do you wish you had the chance to tell Collin Kaepernick why he’s so wrong about not standing for the “Star Spangled Banner” or to tell someone who opposes Kaepernick’s stance why they don’t see the light?

The now back-up quarterback for the San Francisco 49’ers certainly lit a fuse when he knelt during the national anthem during a preseason football game. He did it a couple of times before someone finally asked him about it, and he’s done it since. 

Kaepernick’s cause is a protest for justice for blacks who are unjustly killed by law enforcement officers.

Of course, in the immediate aftermath of the reporting, he had a lot of explaining to do. Military supporters were offended because they thought he was protesting the military. Flag supporters were offended because they thought he was protesting the flag. Police supporters were offended because they thought he was protesting all law enforcement. Supporters of his protest were offended because they thought the media purposely tried to torpedo his efforts by mis-reporting on them. One fellow black NFL player was offended, saying “Kaepernick isn’t black,” whatever that means. 

It seems everyone is offended. Every one wants to have his say. Every one desires that a protest be done “the right way.”

America is the land of the peaceful protest, the place where change can occur without violence. It’s doubtful much has changed in Ferguson, Mo., in the past year and a half, at least in a manner that people desired. There was disgust and outrage when a young black man was killed by police there. There was disgust and outrage when people in the town protested, basically by rioting and burning down part of their own town. Some businesses that weren’t damaged picked up and left. 

So Kaepernick had to shake his head – as did I – when people started attacking his method of protest – a peaceful protest. Even the no-justice-no-peace crowd was on him.

In the past few weeks, Kaepernick has seen the tide turn. Other NFL players have either taken a knee, or in a particularly moving gesture, members of the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs locked arms during the anthem.

Last week, Dabo Swinney, the head football coach at Clemson University, said he didn’t like Kaepernick’s approach because it was individualized in a team sport, and drew attention to him and not the team. Swinney then noted all of the great advances African-Americans have made in the United States in the last couple of decades. Immediately, some well-known sports radio jocks were taking Swinney to task for “settling” for that. They were offended by it.

Being unoffendable is our way of making advances, or preserving a right methodology. It’s our way of working through conflict to acceptance. 

I lived near Dallas for a little more than a year. Race relations in this country are better, but they are still not good enough. Just this month, in the town where I lived, Ennis, Texas, population 18,500, there was a shooting and killing of an alleged unarmed black man by the police, resulting in tension. Ennis was the first community in Texas to integrate its black and white high schools – in 1966. Earlier this year, I was invited to to the Black Chamber of Commerce there to introduce the guest speaker – an Ennis native who was the first black federal judge appointed by President Obama. The culture of that event was far different than anything I ever experienced. At times I was uncomfortable, and at times it might have been easy to be offended. But I purposely left that stance outside the front door, and as a result, I witnessed things in a different light.

I would never want to be a police officer. It’s an incredibly difficult job. But I also respect Kaepernick’s cause. As in any profession, there are great officers and there are a few bad ones who do things that ought not be done. 

I appreciate Kaepernick is not inciting riots. But, I think it was childish and stupid of him to demean his own cause by wearing the insulting socks that portrayed pigs with police hats on them. It was unnecessarily derogatory, but more than that, I thought it severely diminished his ability to have an intelligent discussion with authorities. If I were in law enforcement, I would have found it hard not to be offended.

That said, we have to be unoffendable in America – on all sides of the debate. Sometimes you have to be stronger, and just sit and listen, instead of planning your next response. It’s the only way we can have an honest discussion that will lead to something better for all of us.

Brad Hicks is the editor and publisher of the Red Oak Express. Contact him at publisher@redoakexpress.com.