If Drew Brees can learn to listen — really listen — then why can’t we all?

The New Orleans Saints legendary quarterback seemingly lit a nine-pound powder keg of tension in his own locker room with his response to possible protests this coming NFL season. The talk of taking a knee during the National Anthem has been inspired by the death of George Floyd at the hand of a police officer in Minnesota.

The response was swift and negative — primarily from his own teammates, including Malcolm Jenkins, Michael Thomas and others.

In the days that followed, Brees released a lengthy typed apology on social media, then came an emotional video, a post by his wife and then finally a response to the president (who was critical of Brees for changing his stance).

Yes, Brees managed to anger both sides of a hot-button issue in a matter of three days.

Brees, though, has appeared to have been genuinely affected by how he hurt his black teammates, they have seemingly accepted his apology and a large part of that is apparently that Brees took the time to listen to his teammates.

Listening — real listening in which you don’t interrupt the other person with your own opinions or world views — is what Brees seems to have given his teammates, the type of listening in which you let the other person explain why they feel angry or depressed or any other emotion.

That is what is needed right now from people.

You don’t have to understand that person’s passionate viewpoint because it is not about your point of view. It is about better understanding theirs.

Racism is the longstanding and undefeated plague of our country and one that has learned to transform over generations. It is an opponent we have yet to learn to defeat.

I fully understand that people are no longer openly walking around wearing white hoods and carrying torches, but racism is there lurking in the shadows in every walk of life.

How do I know this? Because I am white.

Too many times we as white people stand quietly by while we hear things that are racist and hateful. Because I am of pale complexion, racists feel comfortable dropping the n-word into conversations. In my lifetime I have also heard equally offensive terms all used openely.

I have had to ask people not to say those terms around me at my house and I have been forced to disassociate myself from some people because of the use of racist terms.

Let me also ask you this.

How many times have you heard someone utter the phrase “I am not talking about black people? I am talking about n-words.” Or how tattooed blacks are referred to as “thugs” but tattooed white people who perform criminal acts are not referred to the same way.

How many times have you heard someone refer to someone else by saying “Oh, that’s my black friend?” Why do we need to put a description of your friend based on the color of their skin? Why can’t your friend just be your friend named so-and-so? Why do we make sure there is a distinction to make sure that person is labeled black?

If someone steps out of line, calls someone a derogatory term or comes off as prejudice it’s our job — scratch that — our duty to our children and society to step up and let that person know that will not be tolerated. That is not acceptable language in 2020. We can no longer continue to keep our heads buried in the sand of polite society and ignore the racism our fellow brothers and sisters of different color experience.

The decision to stand by as a silent witness to this behavior is what allows the plague of racism to thrive. Every time we don’t speak up when someone makes a comment like that, we in turn are allowing that to be acceptable which leads to people becoming more brazen with their prejudice and their racism. That ultimately leads to what happened in Minnesota and other places.

If you need proof of this I am sure you can find a Facebook post or two or a dozen and several more viral videos that unnervingly showcase close mindedness and hatred.

The harsh reality is that hard-core racists are not going to change their perspective. Life is not a Walt Disney sports movie come to life where hard work, emotional speeches and the sounds of Motown help shatter racism. Racists are going to be racist, but what about the others? Those who find themselves bystanders to racism but may be too uncomfortable with speaking up or speaking out? That is where we can change our society.

We have multiple generations of young people whose only experience interacting with someone of another race, creed or culture is the professional athletes they cheer for or possibly teammates of theirs on sports teams.

These generations of children have lived in areas where they have attended school and church with kids that have looked and sounded just like them. Their exposure to how others live is woefully stunted.

That’s not to say that all these kids grow up without knowledge of culture. In fact, some of the most open minded people I have interacted with in my lifetime, specifically covering sports, have been young men and women from that particular background.

But I have also seen firsthand the impact of so many children that are being sheltered. That lack of exposure to other people’s ways of lives can be damaging to a young person’s development.

Every day I feel fortunate to have been raised in the environment — and by my parents — because it gives me a perspective that may be one that some people of my skin color lack.

I grew up around immigrants as both my grandmother and my great aunt immigrated from Germany after World War II. My other grandmother, meanwhile, was a Jewish woman from Brooklyn.

My childhood home was in a lower middle class neighborhood that was racially mixed — as was the school I attended. My best friend Thomas lived right across the street and my other closest friend Chris lived down the street. Neither shared my skin color.

A few years later, when we lived on the West Bank of New Orleans, we resided in a neighborhood that was part white, black, Latino and Vietnamese. It was truly a melting pot of races, creed and cultures. My best friend at that time was the son of Vietnamese immigrants named Van.

Those formative years helped crystallize my perception of the world. I learned at a very early age that

in this world sound different, look different, worship differently than others and that not only was that acceptable but encouraged.

That being said, even though I possess empathy I still have no clue what it is to be black or brown in this country.

As a white person, you can consume every haunting word ever written by Tony Morrison, discuss the teachings of Dr. Todd Boyd, boldly state that “Black Panther” is the best MCU movie, conclude that Miles Davis’ “Blue in Green” may be the most beautiful piece of music ever recorded, memorize every Dave Chapelle Show skit and make yearly donations to the United Negro College Fund — and you still will never know what your black friends go through.

The reality is that every single one of them has multiple stories of prejudice or racist interactions during his or her life. And yes I wrote multiple. If you need proof then just pick up the phone and ask someone of a color in your life about how they are feeling right now, what are their emotions, and ask them to share with you those thoughts. But make sure you listen — really listen.

That is fundamentally key to bringing blacks and whites together but also to faltering the curve of racism in general — both in blatant and passive aggressive form.

Tagging social media posts with trending hashtags, wearing T-shirts, marching/protesting, and getting on your knees to pray isn’t going to get the job done. In fact, everything that we’ve done in the past 60 years isn’t going to get the job done either.

We have to take a long look in the mirror and change things within ourselves. We have to want to be better and we have to want to put in the work to make things better. That means having uncomfortable conversations that will challenge us mentally and spiritually.

Thankfully the sports world has taken the lead on this.

Multi-millionaire NBA stars are currently openly talking about not playing games right now because they feel playing games in Orlando is secondary to larger issues. NASCAR has decided to ban flying the Confederate flag at its racetracks and driver Bubba Wallace is driving with a BlackLivesMatter paint job on his No. 43 car — a number and car driven by “The King” Richard Petty.

NFL players by the dozens (including notable white players such as J.J. Watt and Aaron Rodgers) are coming out against social injustice.

For all those who say athletes should stick to sports — it is time to go kick some rocks.

I see a lot of people constantly talking on social media or at backyard crawfish boils about what the person in the White House, governor’s mansion or town hall should or shouldn’t be doing — that’s not to mention the steady barrage of criticisms of coaches and players.

Yet these individuals express themselves without having any experience in that particular field but it is okay for them to express themselves but not athletes? You see the problem? But right now things feel different than they have in modern times — there is a sense of urgency that wasn’t there before.

If we don’t do something right now then we’re leaving behind a damning legacy for our children and our children’s children to inherit. We have a remarkable opportunity to do something truly phenomenal here in 2020 and beyond.

Because the reality is that we cannot fail at this — because we’ve already failed at far too much for far too long. And it all begins when we start to listen.

Raymond Partsch III is a longtime sportswriter and radio broadcaster.