Thank You, Gabe Kapler,
Thank You,
For making a statement that we all needed to hear. For shocking us back into reality.
For those not in the know, Gabe Kapler, the manager of the San Francisco Giants, has made headlines this week for refusing to come onto the field for the National Anthem, a ritual that takes place before every baseball game. According to his blog post about the situation, it’s in protest of the mass shootings America has been through these last few weeks and his perceived lack of anything done about it. Specifically, he writes,
“ I’m often struck before our games by the lack of the delivery of the promise our national anthem represents”
Also,
“Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat I’m participating in a self-congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where mass shootings like this take place.”
I applaud him for being this clear with his meaning. He feels conflicted standing for the National Anthem because the country it represents seems to breed the murder and hatred we’ve seen these last few weeks. He’s tired of Americans being expected to feel proud of their country when horrible atrocities are being committed every week by their own people, on their own people. I’ve been feeling the same way, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
His opinion came as a surprise to many as people in baseball circles are known to be conservative, but clearly, some situations call for pushing politics aside. The slaughter that happened last week in Texas of 19 children and two adults clearly qualifies as one of those. To Gabe, and hopefully, the other good-hearted people of this country, what happened there is the last straw in the debate for increased gun laws in America. As of recently, I stand with this group. We recognize and understand that guns are an essential part of American culture, but at what point is enough, enough? We’re tired of American citizens using high-powered assault rifles to kill other Americans, hatred or mental health being the excuse. We’re tired of losing innocent lives. Nineteen kids died…. That’s an almost unfathomable loss. The first step in solving a problem is admitting you have one and that’s what Gabe is sort of doing for us here. There is a gun problem here, we understand that. Unfortunately for us though there are like a million more problems we have that are just as complicated.
Now Kapler is one of the first public figures to express his displeasure publicly and there is no doubt in my mind it was hard for him. He knew the response on social media to his actions would be harsh and there’s a clear history of ostracization when one goes this route. Twitter has no love for people who protest the anthem, just look at any discussion about Colin Kaepernick and his kneeling. I commend him for standing up for what he believes and sticking with his plan because I truly feel these types of people are hard to come by these days. With that said though I think we must recognize that, unlike the former 49ers quarterback, Kapler is never going to be blackballed from his sport, and is never going to lose his job because he’s protesting the anthem. He carries a sense of security that other public figures aren’t necessarily afforded, so if anyone was going to make a statement on this, why not him? Maybe he’s exactly the kind of figure that SHOULD say something like this, an influential person with a secure position!
Either way, Kapler has used his platform for good and has shared a message that desperately needs to be shared. SOMETHING needs to change in our gun control laws because clearly things AREN’T working as they are now… and whether you like it or not, that change starts when prominent people start speaking up. In a country that worships celebrities, they are the ones that shift public opinion and get people talking on social media, they change narratives. They are the ones that get government officials to listen, the ones that move the needle financially. If Elon Musk came out on Twitter tomorrow denouncing America’s gun laws, I guarantee you he would change a lot of minds, he’ll make people agree with him. Not that he’s forcing anyone to take his side or anything, but that’s the type of power celebrities have on social media. Large following = powerful person, there areplenty of burner accounts ready to agree with anything a celebrity says.
Obviously, Gabe Kapler has nowhere near the following of Elon Musk, but as far as influential voices saying what needs to be said about gun violence, it’s a start! So Thank you again to Gabe Kapler for taking such a needed risk… because even though it’s not at the same level of Colin Kaepernick’s risk per se, taking the leap is still an act worth commending!
