Americans don’t understand each other.

The kneeling NFL saga has informed the public about many problems, including the need for schools to educate students about types of flags, types of salutes, dexter, sinister, standing profile, half mast, the difference between flying a flag upside down or in the rain, and other meanings behind parade protocol. Ignorance of color-guard basics has become evident in both Black football champions and the rich White guys who own their teams.

Where was the outcry against car dealerships for flying their over-sized American flags during the rain? Where is the teaching in school about “how to get along”? Students should have learned about “understanding deeper intent”, then they would know that the football players don’t mean the disrespect they unintentionally give; they are asking for help with a genuine need in a way they don’t know is wrong. This may have been their only means of getting attention. More love-based interaction between Blacks and Whites would have cleared that up.

Of course, there are ongoing issues of racial divide, which, at this point in history, need to be treated more as “domestic xenophobia” and less as “overt racial prejudice”. The racial divide today comes from a lack of initiative in getting to know people whom we would learn aren’t so different, if we would only get to know them.

Almost as misunderstood as the kneeling players is Donald Trump, the biggest misunderstanding was how obvious it was that he would win the election. Politics had already, and quite unfortunately, become a game of populism and brash insults. Election campaigns are little more than a circus act—an act which Trump played well.

Trump’s victory only surprised people who didn’t know the quicksand that the nation had been sinking into for decades. Truth comes out about a scandal and a guy loses friends—friends who knew what had been going on the whole time. Boycotts are no longer about truth, but about known truth being proven in the public eye.

So, a bunch of football players are asking for help. They need help, can’t you see? Let’s be friends and fix the obvious together. Don’t call anyone “evil” yet. Players and coaches are cooperating. Trump isn’t suing, but only making phone calls to get people on the same page, regardless of their opposite opinions. It’s a good thing if Americans get to know each other, right?