09-29-2017, 06:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-07-2017, 07:44 PM by JBLAZE_THE_BOSS.)
In response to the deluge of questions coming in, my client Haruki Ishigawa has decided to offer the following statement regarding his decision to take a knee during the playing of the American National Anthem during the Week 7 and Week 8 pregame ceremonies:
My life has always been one of duality, one of twos. Dual citizenship, dual living spaces, even dual positions on the football field. As you know, I was born in Tokyo, Japan, and I moved to the United States at a young age. What you may not know is that I’ve maintained a close tie to the place of my birth. Growing up, I always spent part of my year back in Japan (though not during football season, obviously) to keep that connection to where I came from. I love the country where I was born, and as long as I can, I will keep a home there.
I also love my adopted country, the United States of America. I love being here so much that I still spend 75 percent of my year here, and this is where I consider my life to be. This is where my siblings live. This is where I work. This is where I started my playing career, and this is where I’ll finish it. Japan will always be my second home, though it was chronologically my first. I love being in this country and playing the sport that has given extra meaning to my life.
I do not say any of this to be self-aggrandizing or to pay platitudes. I say this so you know where my heart is when I tell you my reasons for kneeling.
This country is a complex one. It truly is both a melting pot of different cultures and a patchwork quilt of unique identities. Young, old, white, black, Californian, West Virginian… Each has a place here and each presents its own identity and challenges.
But many of these challenges are things that people should not have to face in the land of the free. Please, trust me when I say this: socially, America is lightyears ahead of Japan. There, it is not unusual for a half-Japanese person to be asked what their other half is before they’re asked their name. The population there is overwhelmingly born and raised in that country, and very few people who are born there will ever live anywhere else.There, a person’s opinion on any social matter can be dismissed by the simple fact that they are ‘gaijin,’ or a foreigner.
Here, in the USA, anyone can say anything, do anything, be anything. An American citizen has no limitations on what they can think or feel. But for some, this idea of being anything you want to be is more real than it is for others. I have the distinct honor of playing football with people of all races and nationalities here in the NSFL. I take everyone seriously when they tell me their life stories and their experiences. So when my brothers and sisters who are people of color tell me that their communities experience something other than the American Dream, I believe them. When I see statistics that bear out exactly the same conclusion, I believe them. And when I think back on my own experiences and the subtle prejudices that have been ever-present for me, I believe them.
To think that this protest is against our military or our flag or our anthem is missing the point. It’s about inequality. It’s about justice. It’s about compassion and making sure we’re all equal under the law. I can assure you that I intend no violence and no disrespect. I intend offense only to those who have the power to make a change and do nothing. I take this step in protest to stand for the people I love -- those who do not have the platform to stand for themselves. In kneeling, I am standing.
If I’m the only one doing it, that’s fine. I can be all alone. It will be depressing that others don’t see the same cause for protest, but I can handle that. I hope, however, that I am not alone for long. I hope that my brothers and sisters all across the league, at every level, can make their voices heard if they believe what I believe. The more voices that can demand change, the more likely that change is to occur.
I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been asked if I’m the team accountant, or asked, when someone finds out I’m a player, if I’m the kicker. Or the number of times I’m asked if I drove myself to practice and if I hit anyone on the way. This is, as Michael Gerson put it, “the soft bigotry of lowered expectations.” The stereotypes of my race are being good at math and bad at driving. I’m aware of them, and I exemplify neither of them (especially the good at math one). So if this has been my experience, I can only imagine what it would be like with different, more volatile stereotypes.
My brothers and sisters of color experience dangerous stereotypes everyday: that they are armed, aggressive, lazy, and that they, themselves, are dangerous. This is their experience. It is not every experience, and it is not every person. But statistics show that it is real. It is for this reason that I take a knee at the flag. I have not experienced not getting a job because of my name, but I know people who have. I have not experienced people crossing the street to avoid me, but I know people who have. I have not experienced police overreach and brutality, but I know people who have. This is not accidental; it is systemic. So, until we take real steps to combat these problems, to make the American Dream a possibility for all of our citizens, I will continue to kneel.
With respect,
Haruki Ishigawa
Linebacker
Chicago Blues
Word Count: 1,002
My life has always been one of duality, one of twos. Dual citizenship, dual living spaces, even dual positions on the football field. As you know, I was born in Tokyo, Japan, and I moved to the United States at a young age. What you may not know is that I’ve maintained a close tie to the place of my birth. Growing up, I always spent part of my year back in Japan (though not during football season, obviously) to keep that connection to where I came from. I love the country where I was born, and as long as I can, I will keep a home there.
I also love my adopted country, the United States of America. I love being here so much that I still spend 75 percent of my year here, and this is where I consider my life to be. This is where my siblings live. This is where I work. This is where I started my playing career, and this is where I’ll finish it. Japan will always be my second home, though it was chronologically my first. I love being in this country and playing the sport that has given extra meaning to my life.
I do not say any of this to be self-aggrandizing or to pay platitudes. I say this so you know where my heart is when I tell you my reasons for kneeling.
This country is a complex one. It truly is both a melting pot of different cultures and a patchwork quilt of unique identities. Young, old, white, black, Californian, West Virginian… Each has a place here and each presents its own identity and challenges.
But many of these challenges are things that people should not have to face in the land of the free. Please, trust me when I say this: socially, America is lightyears ahead of Japan. There, it is not unusual for a half-Japanese person to be asked what their other half is before they’re asked their name. The population there is overwhelmingly born and raised in that country, and very few people who are born there will ever live anywhere else.There, a person’s opinion on any social matter can be dismissed by the simple fact that they are ‘gaijin,’ or a foreigner.
Here, in the USA, anyone can say anything, do anything, be anything. An American citizen has no limitations on what they can think or feel. But for some, this idea of being anything you want to be is more real than it is for others. I have the distinct honor of playing football with people of all races and nationalities here in the NSFL. I take everyone seriously when they tell me their life stories and their experiences. So when my brothers and sisters who are people of color tell me that their communities experience something other than the American Dream, I believe them. When I see statistics that bear out exactly the same conclusion, I believe them. And when I think back on my own experiences and the subtle prejudices that have been ever-present for me, I believe them.
To think that this protest is against our military or our flag or our anthem is missing the point. It’s about inequality. It’s about justice. It’s about compassion and making sure we’re all equal under the law. I can assure you that I intend no violence and no disrespect. I intend offense only to those who have the power to make a change and do nothing. I take this step in protest to stand for the people I love -- those who do not have the platform to stand for themselves. In kneeling, I am standing.
If I’m the only one doing it, that’s fine. I can be all alone. It will be depressing that others don’t see the same cause for protest, but I can handle that. I hope, however, that I am not alone for long. I hope that my brothers and sisters all across the league, at every level, can make their voices heard if they believe what I believe. The more voices that can demand change, the more likely that change is to occur.
I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been asked if I’m the team accountant, or asked, when someone finds out I’m a player, if I’m the kicker. Or the number of times I’m asked if I drove myself to practice and if I hit anyone on the way. This is, as Michael Gerson put it, “the soft bigotry of lowered expectations.” The stereotypes of my race are being good at math and bad at driving. I’m aware of them, and I exemplify neither of them (especially the good at math one). So if this has been my experience, I can only imagine what it would be like with different, more volatile stereotypes.
My brothers and sisters of color experience dangerous stereotypes everyday: that they are armed, aggressive, lazy, and that they, themselves, are dangerous. This is their experience. It is not every experience, and it is not every person. But statistics show that it is real. It is for this reason that I take a knee at the flag. I have not experienced not getting a job because of my name, but I know people who have. I have not experienced people crossing the street to avoid me, but I know people who have. I have not experienced police overreach and brutality, but I know people who have. This is not accidental; it is systemic. So, until we take real steps to combat these problems, to make the American Dream a possibility for all of our citizens, I will continue to kneel.
With respect,
Haruki Ishigawa
Linebacker
Chicago Blues
Word Count: 1,002