This Combat Vet’s Take
on Kaepernick’s Protest
By Alika Naluai – 6 September 2016
Aloha-
I am a Hawaiian man and Veteran of 3
combat tours to Iraq (2) and Afghanistan (1). In the last couple of weeks, some
of my friends have asked for my take on Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem
protest as both a Minority and a Soldier.
Then, after seeing yesterday’s episode of GameDay on NFL Network, I
decided to write my initial reaction, parts of my conversations, what taking a
knee symbolizes, and some words of advice.
NOTE: This opinion piece in no way
represents the views of the US Army or its leaders. It’s not a commentary
sharing the combined voice of combat veterans either. I cannot speak to what other veterans
experienced, only what I went through in my little sector of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The Protest
Some Army buddies and I were in the
middle of our Fantasy Football Draft when I first heard about Colin Kaepernick
sitting during the National Anthem. All
of us, combat vets with multiple tours, were furious. Having lost friends and colleagues in combat, I nearly went ballistic
thinking, “How dare he spit in the face of us who fought and all our buddies
who died for his freedom, the same freedom he never fought for, never
sacrificed for?!?! How dare he belittle the sacrifice of our wives and our children
and all those who went before us?!?!”
This was my initial reaction. And the
irony I saw was, Colin Kaepernick had benefited from the very ideals, values
and even the country that he was disrespecting. I blocked out everything about
his message and wrote him off as a spoiled little rich kid, stirring up trouble.
Then I went to work.
As I was chiding a 49er friend about
Kaepernick, another friend, a black man from the inner city and Veteran, said
he had to interject. He said we missed the whole point of the protest and that
he had no problem with Kaepernick sitting during the National Anthem. This sparked a conversation about the purpose
and methods Kaepernick was using to get his message out. My 49er friend left, but the friend who
interjected and I started having a very deep, sometimes heated discussion about
the whole situation since the underlying values run deep for both of us. Ultimately,
my friend said Kaepernick’s whole purpose was to start “a conversation,” to start
to affect change.
Oppression and Subjugation
He went on to say the Flag represented
a country that was built on the backs of oppressed people. I agreed to an
extent, but quickly interjected that ALL countries have been built on the backs
of the oppressed. And if we used that as a gauge of what a good country is,
then we would have no country in the world to align ourselves with. I’ve been to many places, seen many people and
done many things that most Americans only read about. Our country and our people do have issues,
but it’s still the greatest country in the world to be a part of. It still affords us the best chance to be
what we want to be, IF we seize the opportunities presented to us. He then began to share examples of oppressed
black people, thinking I didn’t fully understand.
I then relayed a brief history of the
Hawaiian people and showed him that through foreign greed and self-interest, we
lost our land, our culture, our language and even our sense of being. I told him our King was forced at gunpoint to
sign a constitution allowing foreigners to own land (called the Bayonet
Constitution) and ultimately American businessmen overthrew our queen and our kingdom
to make their fortunes. I shared that
our grand parents and great grand parents were not allowed to speak the
Hawaiian language in school and even beaten if they were caught. I told him that more than 95% of our
population out of an estimated 1 million was lost as a result of diseases
brought by foreigners, with all that’s cultural knowledge lost. And yes, even
some of our people were kidnapped and enslaved on the whaling ships of the 1800s.
We are striving as a people to regain our culture, our heritage and our
language, but it has been and continues to be a struggle, knowing the Hawaii
our ancestors knew will never again be. He
was surprised at how similar our peoples’ stories were, not the same, but
similar. We realized that many peoples have been oppressed and subjugated in their own ways, and their posterity are still dealing with the ripple effects to this day. But, in the end, we asked our selves, “So, we have been dealt the hand
we have been dealt, now what do we do to succeed and progress?”
Underlying Issue
I began to see what Kaepernick was
trying to do by sitting during the National Anthem. But I still felt that people would miss the
message because of the method, and that would do nobody any good. What Kaepernick is talking about and choosing
to focus on is racism and police brutality. And yes, as @marshallfaulk said on the GAMEDAY
show yesterday, more than 400 inner city youth in Chicago alone have been
killed thus far this year. This is a tragedy. But I feel many, including Kaepernick, are
failing to see the big picture. This isn’t a race thing; this issue is much
bigger than that. The underlying cause is summed up in one simple word:
RESPECT
Respect, or the lack of it, is the base
issue that causes racism. The lack of respect for each other is the underlying
cause for many of the problems we face today. We have one color racist against
another color, and the other color racist back. We have police brutality. We have
domestic-violence. We have murder in the
street and gang violence. We have physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, and
rape. We have a fundamental breakdown the basic structure of society, the
family. We have parents verbally and physically abusing their kids or worse,
neglecting them. We have a permeating
attitude of survival – “I’m gonna get mine and take care of #1, forget everyone
else” which leads to a break down of the society as a whole. All these issues and more can be mitigated
through a healthy dose of mutual respect.
Case in point: Iraq, 2005. Our brigade, made up of local people from
Hawaii, Samoa and Guam, with a strong sense of family, respect and doing what
is right for the community as a whole, took ownership of a plot of land in the
middle of the Sunni triangle. This was
the center of the region that supported Saddam Hussein. The base we were tasked to protect had the
nickname “Mortaritaville”, after Jimmy Buffet’s song “Margeritaville”, because
it was shelled on average 8-10 times a day. That’s approximately 300 mortar shells
or rockets a month. The unit we were
taking over for had many casualties, killed and wounded and they were quick to
share with us how to “control” the people in our region.
However, we selected a different
approach. We took over and went out to meet with the people to get to know them. Instead of forcing our agendas, we began
showing the people respect like we would in our cultures. Things started to change. Yes we arrested many
of the “bad guys” and removed tons of weapons and bombs used against us. But, on
many occasions, Iraqi people told me through my interpreter that they knew we were
different, that we understood them and they could tell the difference between
us and the other units in the surrounding areas. They appreciated the respect
we gave them. Not long afterward we took over, through our combined efforts,
the frequency of shelling dropped from 300 to 3 rockets per month. In fact, on
a few occasions, my buddies and I would overhear other Soldiers from different
units speculate why the shelling had nearly stopped. We took pride in the fact
that they could no longer call the base “Mortaritaville”.
In addition to the shelling, IED
attacks were lower for us as well. On two separate occasions, my own patrol
drove through our town’s “IED Alley” followed closely by an different
division’s patrol. They let us pass and
blew the other guys up. On two different occasions! Morbid, I know, but it
shows the importance of treating people with respect. The ‘insurgents’ knew who
we were, and they knew who the other guys were and how each of us treated them
and their families. I know beyond any
doubt that the positive way we treated the people DIRECTLY reduced the amount
of attacks we experienced. Sadly, the unit that took over from us went back to
the same methods as the previous unit, and once again, “Mortaritaville” lived
up to its name. Despite all we had done that year with removing the bad guys and weapons from the streets and villages, we went from 3-4 attacks a month back to nearly 300 over night.
This may be an extreme example, but
we are now starting to see extreme examples here in America too. The question is, how are we going to proceed?
Taking a Knee
Now, Colin Kaepernick is taking a
knee during the National Anthem. If you haven’t served in or around the Infantry,
the meaning of this gesture may slip past you. What does it really mean? I hear reporters asking if there are religious
undertones. I hear commentators quickly brushing over the action. I have people asking me what it even
means. Here is how I understand it.
In the Infantry, we often carry heavy
packs with all our gear and ammo for miles, through the woods, at night, on our
way towards our objective, on our way to fulfill our mission. But, every so
often, we take a knee to rest for a bit from our arduous journey. Every so
often, we take a knee to reorient ourselves to our correct path. Every so often, we take a knee to receive
clarifying instructions from our leaders and ensure everyone we started with is
still with us. Even though we are in a ‘rest’ position, we are ready, at a
moments notice to stand up and move out again. We take a knee knowing that when
the time comes, we will rise up, with our burdens on our shoulders, and
continue towards our goal together.
Ultimately, taking a knee is not a
sign of disrespect. While taking a knee
is not the correct protocol for what we should do during the National Anthem,
this is an action that this old ‘dogface’ can support, even though I will
personally be standing at attention with a salute, or my hand over my heart.
Words of Advice
Colin, words reveal our inner most thoughts and values. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it.
- No absolutes – avoid lumping everyone into the same box, i.e. “Cops Kill” means ALL cops kill, “Whites Oppress” means ALL whites oppress. And you and I both know those statements are not true. You’ve said it yourself, not all cops are bad, but some are. The same can be said of lawyers, or businessmen, or teachers, or men, or women, or whites, or blacks, or browns – not all are bad, but some are. Say what you mean to ensure your message is clear… Some…
- Build, don’t destroy – a very basic tactic for thousands of years to defeat an enemy, Divide and Conquer. But be careful not to divide yourself. You have been blessed with a platform to change a nation for the better. Ensure you understand that racism is racism, no matter what the color of a person’s skin is, that oppression is oppression, no matter what color the person’s skin is, that tyranny is tyranny and abuse is abuse, no matter what color the person’s skin is. Don’t inadvertently divide the country you are striving to unite.
- It’s really about mutual respect – our society, and the world as a whole will be so much better off once we as a people decide to embrace and foster mutual respect. We will be more inventive, more prosperous, and more peaceful. Our children will be able to play in the streets and fields together without fear.
- Understand that we are talking about a societal change that doesn’t start with the politicians. It starts in the home. And if the home is not safe place for our children to learn good uplifting values from loving parents, like mutual respect, then this change will not happen. The breakdown of the home is also an issue that needs addressing.
In the end, I am grateful that my
co-worker and friend had the courage to interject and spark “the conversation”
that not only softened my attitude about the entire situation, but his as well.
We both walked away better men, with a
more complete understanding of the underlying issues. And I hope “the conversation”
does the same for all of you.
Sincerely,
Alika Naluai
