As mentioned in the previous post, culture has a breadth effect. That is, it impacts a wide range of things and people. This makes it a prime focal point for a coach trying to grow a program. What I want to argue this time around is the idea that culture is an excellent focal point for an even more important reason. What we call culture, in a variety of different contexts, impacts us deeply and profoundly. It's not just the rudder used to steer a ship; a strong culture is akin to the current a ship sails on. It is not just influential; it is nearly inescapable.
The degree to which people are molded by their cultures is hard to exaggerate. It's not always easy to see because we are so deeply embedded. Now, some people might think that it is clear as day. We can have some understanding of the differences between our immigrant parents and the culture of the country they came to. We might see the effects of being raised with a religious background, a heavy academic emphasis, or a childhood revolving around sports. We might see how family traditions shape us or the effects of pop culture on our preferences, but that is just scratching the surface.
One of the easiest ways to illustrate this point is by looking at atrocities that have taken place during the course of human history. I don't take these things lightly and don't want to dilute their importance by connecting them to sports. Instead, as a coach, I recognize that I have some degree of influence over young people. Therefore, it behooves me to understand the power of culture and the importance of what goes into one.
I want to start by considering the Holocaust. When I was younger, I used to wonder what I would have done if I was a German citizen during World War 2. Would I have spoken up, or would I have kept quiet out of fear and self-preservation? Most honest people would probably confess that this is a difficult question. Many of us have never experienced a testing point with stakes so high. Nevertheless, it's an interesting and significant question.
However, as I grew older, another question emerged which logically preceded my original one. Would I have experienced the moral dilemma if I had been there? I had always assumed that the evil involved was so obvious and so heinous no person could fail to recognize it. The Germans were just cowards.
Was that the case, though? It's hard to say, but it was probably less obvious than I first thought. World War 2 took place in modernity. Germany was a civilized nation. One reason the Holocaust was so shocking is that the world could not believe such a thing was happening AT THAT time. We don't experience the same shock when we think about ancient civilizations practicing human sacrifice or enslaving entire people groups after winning a war. That was then, this is now, or so the reasoning goes. There's at least some truth to that, and one must wonder whether the Nazis imposed their will solely through a display of power that instilled fear in any who opposed them. Is it really so simple, or did it take more than that?
It seems probable that events like the Holocaust are typically aided by some degree of ignorance or willful suspension of rational thought. A simple inquiry into that period could yield discussion about gradual dehumanization and desensitization. There are also potential questions regarding how much was known to the general public at the time. While I am curious, there are too many unknowns to sift through at the moment, so I prefer to turn my attention back to our own shores and revisit what could be considered America's original sin: slavery.
Ask any young political activist about slavery today, and you'll likely hear something about systemic racism and our white supremacist roots. Interesting topics, to be sure, but we're not here to focus on that. Instead, what intrigues me is the utter disdain we often possess for our predecessors. My intention here is not to excuse or overlook the violation of fundamental human rights that slavery was and still represents. I want to highlight a few general differences that bring us back to our focal point: the importance of culture building.
Two main differences are essential to our discussion. First, to the best of my understanding, speaking out against slavery was not the same as opposing Hitler and the Nazis. Slavery, while unspeakably cruel, was not the large-scale extermination of a group of people, nor was it a movement to reshape the nation completely. Slaveholders were willing to fight a war but not hell-bent on wiping out the opposing view. Second, slavery was well known, understood, and occurred in everyday life.
These questions emerge: Was slavery simply accepted because nobody would speak out against it? No, abolitionists were vocal in public. Was it acceptable practice to some people because they did not believe what they were doing was wrong? Yes. Again, I'm not excusing the behavior in any way; I'm just pushing toward the next point. Slavery has been outlawed in our country, and it is practically impossible to find anyone who would support it today. Is it the case that EVERYONE who finds slavery abhorrent came to this conclusion because of their superior moral reasoning? Would the approximately 330 million Americans who oppose slavery today (yes, I know there are exceptions) ALL have spoken out against slavery at its peak acceptance? The people who enslaved other people were just like many of us. They had families. They were adults, children, men, and women. They worked, played, and went to school. They had hopes, dreams, and fears. Are we better for our understanding of slavery? Of course. We are much better in that sense. Would we all have been better back then? I'm not so sure.
But slavery is SO OBVIOUS. They must have been SO BAD back then. Maybe people just get better over time. Look around the world. I think we forget that a lot of it is pretty bad TODAY. People haven't fundamentally changed, cultures have. Some have suggested that "the arc of history bends toward justice," but does it? Societies don't have to get better. They can and often do get worse. What are we ignorant about today that future generations will judge us for? I'm not 100% sure, and that's the point. Most of the time, we tend to reason FROM the culture we live in rather than inject reason INTO it. As much as we want to label ourselves as rational objective freethinkers, we are inevitably products of culture. Some more than others. If not of the prevailing mainstream, then of some form of subculture.
One might even say we are slaves to culture. Maybe that's why it's often so hard for us to change course.
This post is not about how we should speak of the past. It is about how we can build the future. Culture is a deep part of who we are. It is inside us and surrounds us at the same time. The nature of the cultures we partake in determines our trajectory. A winning culture is more than the drills, cheers, and team bonding. It is about how we spend our time outside of the gym that determines who we are when we walk into a practice or game.
Virtue builds, strengthens, and wins. Vice rots, weakens, and loses. A winning culture teaches virtue, hates vice, and continually refreshes itself to meet the needs of the moment. It can build a fortress or manufacture blind spots. A sports team ignores culture at its own peril, but a good one pays close attention to it. We cannot assume that the culture we reside in is aligned with our desire to win. A winning culture must be relentlessly built, repaired, and rebuilt. Any coach or player who wants to win must leverage the team culture in some way to advance toward their goals. If you are not influencing people around you to be better or worse, you are leaving it to others. However, there is no neutrality, the natural tendency is to backslide and if you aren't helping with the climb someone is carrying you. Gravity is not neutral. Everyone is in the game.
This all sounds easy enough. We just have to figure out what is already there, where to begin, what to include, what to exclude, what to prioritize, who has what roles, and how to deal with a population that turns over completely every four years. No big deal.
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