I think we
can all agree that President Trump is an avid tweeter. And his tweets are not
just boring and political, but are entertaining and sometimes even comical to
follow along with. But of course, it is not uncommon for these tweets to create
huge controversy and upheaval.
Today, I want to focus
on the following two tweets from our President of the United States of America:
Let’s start with the White House
situation. After national teams win championships, it is common— and an
honor—to be invited to visit the White House and meet the President. When a
team does not end up going to the White House, it is usually due to scheduling
conflicts. But NBA 2017 champion Golden State’s Steph Curry stated that he
simply did not want to go to the White House. Note that even though Curry and
Durrant decided they didn’t want to go, the team was still going to sit down
and discuss whether or not they would go. But of course after hearing what
Curry said, Trump promptly responded by tweeting that the invitation is
withdrawn. The Golden State Warriors released a statement explaining they were
disappointed the invitation was withdrawn before they had made a decision as a
team, and American citizens should be able to freely voice their opinions on
matters that are important to them.
Reflecting on the three times he was
fortunate enough to get invited to the White House, NFL player Teddy Bruschi explains,
“it didn’t really matter who the President was, whether I agreed with the President or not, it’s just the experience of going there with your team to be
celebrated as a world champion by the President of the United States – it’s a
pretty big deal”. Bruschi says this was the coolest experience of his life. It
is interesting to note this interview took place well before Trump was
president.
Next, if
you have not heard about NFL players kneeling, sitting down, or locking arms to
protest during the national anthem, where have you been? I was not sure what to
make of this at first, or what it even means. So this brings up an interesting
question. What makes kneeling during the national anthem disrespectful? What
does kneeling actually mean? To some, kneeling is to show honor, a way to pray
to God, even a humbling gesture. But this certainly cannot be the case in this
context. So why? Why do they do it? Apparently it is because “athletes of color are either sitting down or taking a knee and raising a
clinched fist in protest of police brutality and racial inequities”. (1) Many
people have opinions of what ‘the kneel’ means now, after all this buzz and
twitter drama. But to sum it up, journalist David Corn explains, “the kneel
will now become a sign of opposition to Trump”. (2)
So although
President Trump’s opinions or taking offense may be valid, the way he went
about expressing it was simply not professional. This is not surprising knowing his
Twitter history. Just as he obviously expects respect from these athletes, he
should respect them right back. And referring to athletes who kneel as ‘sons of a bitches’ (as he did when saying
the teams' owners should fire them) is certainly not respectful or professional. In fact, his behavior is a little bit embarrassing.
On the other hand, I do not think the
protesting of the kneeling players was effective. Okay, they knelt to express
that they have an issue with something… What then? It is not accomplishing
anything – besides awareness. Also, it is not the right time or place. It would
not be professional for others to do that at his or her place of work (they
would probably get fired), so why would it be appropriate at theirs? A more
effective approach to be to actually act on an issue, rather kneel down and
submit to its “unfairness”.
Overall,
is interesting to notice professionals with large followings on social media get so worked up about certain issues that their professional communication
goes out the door. And despite President Trump’s preferred method, deleting
regretful comments does not make them go away forever. Famous or not, it is
important for everyone to think about their posts, comments, and actions that
can – and will – be there for everyone to see.
