What if instead of headlines like this, we imagine another way this story could have played out? Something like — Breaking news: Famous musicians and football titan take a stand for peace.
Two days ago, rapper Macklemore and singer Ed Sheeran published on Instagram a photo of Macklemore sitting with a group of Israeli Americans talking to him on Instagram with the caption, “I’ll talk to anyone as long as there is respect. It’s human rights for everybody; there is no difference. Free Palestine, World Peace.”1
This was an unexpected move for Macklemore, known for his vocal stance on Palestine and the rights of people living in Gaza. How did he end up in the same room as a group of Israelis?
As Ed Sheeran explained in an interview at 102.1 FM yesterday, “Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots stadium, came to me and said, ‘Look. There are people who are coming to me very hurt by what your opener said. Will he talk to them?’ I asked Macklemore, and he said sure, so we got everyone in the same room. They shared how scared they were for their families. He shared how terrified he was for Palestinians. I don’t think anyone’s minds were changed, but there were definitely some tears shed.”
Last night Macklemore opened for Sheeran at the Patriots stadium. He opened with, “Free Palestine. I want those words to be loud and clear so the people from Gaza all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten. Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace, love; for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality."2
We all know this didn’t happen. But what if it had? What if our culture moved from cancellation to dialogue?
Many fear that by simply engaging with people that we disagree with, we will be less pure. We may be judged as being “on their side,” the morally wrong one (whichever we deem that to be). We also fear that we will be misinterpreted. That is certainly possible online, less possible in human-to-human long-form conversations.
Macklemore is not from Palestine. Robert Kraft is not Israeli. Ed Sheeran is certainly neither. How do you respond when you are asked to take a side for or against a community that is not your own? Maybe start with curiosity.
In our connected yet hyper-polarized world, even people who are not megastars or corporate billionaires are asked to take sides every day. The easy thing is to do nothing. Not my circus, not my monkey, as my aunt says. Ed Sheeran chose that route, and that didn’t go well.
It’s not that you have to pick a side on every issue — Ed Sheeran has a right not to speak about issues in the same way Macklemore has a right to speak about them, but as we’ve seen, choosing not to speak is still a choice with consequences. Choosing to actively not engage in contemporary issues doesn’t exempt you from becoming collateral damage in the fallout from them, nor does it stop others from being affected by them.
Dialogue is the way through without disengaging or being forced to choose a side (even though choosing a side is okay too!). The alternative universe outlined above might seem rosy to some, but anyone who has actually experienced the life-changing power of dialogue in their own lives knows that it is a very plausible scenario. It takes courage. You have to slow down. But if Robert Kraft had used his power to demand dialogue instead of cancellation, we would all be better off.
1 Note that "It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference" is a lyric of his from Same Love.
2 This is the exact quote Macklemore frequently said on stages.
Alice Sheehan is the COO/CFO and Director of School Programs. She has a Center bias.
Reviewed and edited by Clare Ashcraft, Bridging Coordinator, Media Analyst, and Roundtables Product Manager (Center bias). Also reviewed by Education Experience Manager & News Editor Emily Allen (Left) and News Editor & Bias Analyst Johnathon Held (Lean Right).
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