Bend the Knee Protest

Published in Seoul Shinmun
(South Korea) on 26 September 2017
by Kwang Sook Choi (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Robert Kay. Edited by Margaret Dalzell.
In December 1970, Willy Brandt, then the chancellor of West Germany, while placing a wreath, spontaneously kneeled before a Jewish monument in Warsaw, Poland. It was his sincere gesture of penance to Polish Jews who died at the hands of Nazi Germany. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who recently visited South Korea, wrote in his autobiography that he had felt as if his breath had stopped when Brandt was on his knees and had thought that it was an act of a truly great person.

At the time, the press around the world opined that a man kneeled yet the entire nation of Germany stood. Brandt’s apology for Nazi Germany’s actions during the war and his offer of reconciliation to the nations that suffered under the Nazi regime were a starting point of the “Ostpolitik”* policy which paved the way for the eventual reunification of Germany and the collapse of the eastern bloc in Europe. Brandt commented later in his life that he had felt that simply bowing his head was not enough at the moment and that he had put into action that which could not be expressed by words.

Kneeling is not an action that is commonly done, and it has significant meanings: It is an action to show regret and apology as Brandt had done; it is to show sincere love when a man asks a woman for marriage; and it is also to show loyalty by a servant to a king. It appears that kneeling now has another significant meaning − an action to protest and to resist.

President Donald Trump recently tweeted that National Football League owners should fire players who disrespect the flag. The tweet was aimed at an NFL player who had knelt during the national anthem in the stadium to protest the discrimination against racial minorities. Trump, in addition, urged a boycott of the games.

In response, many current players, as well as coaches, owners and retired players knelt during the anthem in a show of solidarity and in protest. Even Robert Kraft, one of the NFL owners, who supported Trump and contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration ceremony, said, “There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics.”

Trump has been engaged in the exchange of rhetorical bombs with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since the recent North Korean nuclear and missile provocations. This is a critical time in which a leader should be cautious and meticulous in resolving the crisis. We are completely flabbergasted that Trump is spending his time on quarreling with athletes. It is our wish that Trump, while perhaps unable to learn the lesson from Brandt, who showed that a small step such as kneeling can contribute to peace in the world, would at least understand the hearts of players who kneel in protest.

*Translator’s note: Ostpolitik was a policy to normalize the relations between West Germany and Eastern European countries including East Germany.


[씨줄날줄] ‘무릎 꿇기’ 저항/최광숙 논설위원
입력 : 2017-09-26 21:24 ㅣ 수정 : 2017-09-26 22:01
폰트 확대 폰트 축소 프린트하기
1970년 12월 폴란드 바르샤바의 유대인 추모비 앞에서 빌리 브란트 전 서독 총리가 헌화를 하던 도중 갑자기 무릎을 꿇었다. 독일 나치에 의해 희생된 폴란드 유대인들에게 올리는 진심 어린 사죄였다. 최근 방한한 게르하르트 슈뢰더 전 독일 총리는 자서전 ‘문명국가로의 귀환’에 “그가 무릎을 꿇는 순간 나는 숨이 멎는 것만 같았다. 간절한 마음을 전달하기 위해 참으로 위대한 사람만이 할 수 있는 행동이었다”고 썼다.

당시 세계 언론들은 이를 두고 “무릎을 꿇은 것은 한 사람이었지만 일어선 것은 독일 전체였다”고 평했다. 나치 독일의 전쟁 과오를 참회하며 피해국들의 상처를 어루만진 브란트의 이 행동은 독일 통일과 동유럽 체제 붕괴의 초석이 된 ‘동방정책’의 출발점이었다. 하지만 그는 훗날 자신의 행동에 대해 “고개 숙이기로는 부족했다. 인간이 말로 표현할 수 없을 때 할 수 있는 행동을 했을 뿐이다”라고 했다.


무릎을 꿇는 것은 흔히 하는 행동이 아니기에 중요한 의미가 함축될 수밖에 없다. 브란트처럼 감동적인 ‘사죄와 반성’의 뜻도 있지만 청혼 때 남자가 여자에게 무릎을 꿇는 것은 ‘사랑의 맹세’다. 왕 앞에서 신하의 무릎 꿇기는 ‘충성의 다짐’이다. 이제 무릎 꿇기에 ‘저항’이라는 새로운 의미를 부여해야 할 듯하다.

최근 도널드 트럼프 미 대통령이 트위터에 “미국프로풋볼(NFL) 구단주들은 국기에 결례를 범하는 선수들에게 ‘개××를 당장 끌어내고 해고해’라고 말하라”고 말해 파문이 일고 있다. 이는 NFL의 한 스타가 소수인종 차별에 항의하는 뜻으로 경기장에서 국가가 울려 퍼질 때 무릎을 꿇고 앉은 것을 겨냥한 것이다.

트럼프는 한술 더 떠 경기 보이콧까지 촉구했다. 그러자 선수들은 단체로 무릎을 꿇으며 저항했다. 현역 선수뿐만 아니라 은퇴한 선수·코치·구단주들까지 동참했다. 대통령 취임식 행사에 100만 달러를 기부한 트럼프의 열혈 지지자인 구단주 로버트 크래프트는 “이 나라에서 스포츠보다 더 위대한 통합자는 없으며, 불행하게도 정치보다 더 분열적인 것은 없다”며 트럼프에게 일격을 가했다.

연이은 북한 핵·미사일 도발로 트럼프는 김정은 북한 노동당 위원장과 ‘말폭탄’을 주고받고 있다. 그 어느 때보다 신중하면서도 치밀하게 북핵 위기를 관리해야 할 그가 엉뚱하게 스포츠 선수들과 좌충우돌하는 것을 보면 한심하기 짝이 없다. 트럼프가 무릎 꿇는 ‘작은 걸음’으로 큰 평화를 이룬 브란트의 교훈을 되새기지는 못하더라도 무릎 꿇은 선수들의 간절한 마음이라도 헤아렸으면 한다.
2017-09-27 31면


[출처: 서울신문에서 제공하는 기사입니다.] http://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20170927031008&spage=2#csidx6aee20335d32cdc8bb61387c0c49d50
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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