I’ve always wondered what was going through Francis Scott Key’s mind on the night he wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.” When he saw Old Glory waving at dawn’s early light after spending the night expecting to see the enemy’s flag flying, his pride for his country had to have been at an all-time high.
Flash forward to 2017 and the poem Key scribbled in the Chesapeake Bay is at the forefront of conversation. Players in the NFL, spurred by perceived racial injustice in the United States, are using “The Star Spangled Banner,” now the national anthem, as a means of protest.
The national anthem, played before almost all sporting events, and known to Americans nationwide, is more than just another song with empty lyrics and a catchy tune. If only for the country it represents, it is undeniably linked with the United States of America, its people and its history.
As with any country, America’s history is mixed. Yes, some of it is dark. It is foolish and naive to think America is free of any problems. Conversations about race and other issues are necessary to have.
But, honestly, since players began kneeling, I don’t hear conversations, I hear shouting. I hear anger. We certainly aren’t getting anywhere as a nation. We may be getting farther apart.
The fundamental problem is using the national anthem to protest the country. To many it is more than just a song and represents the ultimate good in America. When people care about something as much as they do about the national anthem, disrespecting it isn’t going to promote healthy dialogue – it’s going to provoke anger.
The truth is, there are many Americans who view “The Star Spangled Banner” and the flag with utmost reverence, and disrespecting either of those symbols is tantamount to a personal offense.
To many Americans, including myself, the national anthem is not the time to disrespect the country because, at its core, the national anthem portrays the ultimate good in America. When we hear the national anthem, we think of the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives to guarantee our freedom.
We think of our Founding Fathers crafting the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well they could be signing their death warrant. We think of millions of Americans living their everyday lives as mothers, fathers and children.
You may call that wishful thinking. You may say there is much more to America than the selective good thoughts we wish to believe.
And of course, you’re right in one respect. But in the roughly two-minute (four minutes if you’re Aretha Franklin) rendition of Key’s majestic poem, we want to feel unified in belonging to a country we are immensely proud of.
We should never shy away from acknowledging our issues, but equally as important, perhaps more so, is celebrating our strengths.
When NFL players use this time of unity to divisively advance their agenda and insult our flag, outrage is justifiable. Players who kneel break a social norm in order to send a message.
While breaking social norms will always cause a stir, you can expect the reaction to be magnified when people hold a social norm so near and dear as the national anthem.
Kneeling during the national anthem is the wrong action at the wrong time.
This of course, is my personal opinion. But at the root of this conversation, we are experiencing a true disconnect. Some people see the national anthem as just another song representing a country of oppression.
Others, like President Trump, view it as a symbol of good in America. Even others may not agree with the players but defend their freedom of speech.
The good news, at the expense of sounding too cynical, is that everyone can keep doing what they’re doing. The players can continue to kneel, the president can continue to tweet, the fans can continue to desert the NFL and we can all continue to yell at each other.
Or, we can put aside the rhetoric and attempt to understand both sides. You can certainly disagree with my opinion regarding the national anthem. Just don’t disregard it.
We see two different sides of the coin, making a conversation immensely difficult. The only way to move past that is to try to understand another opinion without dismissing it as irrelevant.
After all, dismissing other opinions because they are diametrically opposed with ours is how we got here in the first place.
Matt Server is the senior opinion editor at The Daily Nebraskan. Reach him at opinion@dailynebraskan.com or via @DailyNeb. What are your thoughts on this form of protesting? Send any and all of your thoughts or questions to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
