RESPECT GIVEN

 RESPECT GIVEN IS RESPECT GAINED 

     Disrespect for America is much deeper than one football player refusing to stand for the National Anthem. It has shocked the world to see the disrespect given to a respectable family-of-color when President Obama was elected to occupy the White House.  Americans have shown the world just how deep the roots of hatred are embedded within American society.

   Colin Kaepernick may be forced to stand for the National Anthem, but he cannot be forced to respect a society that has, for over two hundred years, disrespected people of color. Force is a method used by dictators around the world as a tool to secure power.  Respect is not gained by force and the use of force will do nothing to solve the problem of the racial divide that is within American society.

    If Americans want respect, Americans must give respect. Throughout the history of the United States African Americans have faced unspeakable forms of discrimination. Americans have yet to accept the fact that forcing humans into slavery created long-term problems that are far from being solved.  People of color are still being mistreated by law enforcement officials who carelessly use deadly force as a method to attain social order. And today American prisons are filled with working-class individuals who are victims of an unjust judicial system.

    Every day the world sees an America that is moving away from the land of the free and the home of the brave. To even consider the idea that in the land of the free an individual can be forced to conform to a public formality of respect is to show just how close America has moved in the direction of a dictatorship. The fact is: most great Americans were nonconformists.  Nonconformity produces the actions that later turn into the characteristics of greatness.

   From the beginning of American history an attempt has been made to force gays to conform to the heterosexual lifestyle. There are hundreds of examples of LGBT citizens being bullied by members of a so-called straight society in which little or no punishment was given to the abusers.  LGBT individuals continue to be victimized by name calling, denied job promotions, refused housing, and locked out of religious organizations. Gay and lesbian citizens have endured verbal and physical abuse, nevertheless the gay lifestyle has flourished from the closet to the public square. Presently, the talents of the gay communities have been recognized around the world.  

   Instead of a public uproar over the act of standing to show respect, the real concern should be the evidence of disrespect for African and Latin Americans, LGBT citizens, and other minorities living in the United States.  In America there are enough examples of disrespect to go around. The capitalistic economic system has become known as the system of disrespect. There is disrespect for the American workers by employers refusing to pay a living wage.  There is disrespect for the veterans of war who are denied adequate health benefits. There is disrespect for the honest taxpayer in the series of the tax loopholes given to the rich. There is disrespect shown to women who do not receive equal pay for equal work. Therefore, many rich Americans should not stand for the National Anthem, but should be down on their knees begging forgiveness for the harm they have caused other humans.