In Muted Praise of Kaepernick, and Thoughts on the Anthem as a National Symbol

The fracas over the National Anthem continues to grow as more NFL players, some whole NFL teams, and even Megan Rapinoe all participate or contemplate participating in Colin Kaepernick's "I ain't standing up during the National Anthem" protest.

There is, naturally, a pretty wicked backlash on social media.  We apparently were all willing to accept the idea that maybe one guy, this Colin Kaepernick, would not stand up provided he showed reverence to the armed forces by taking a knee.  But now that more than one person wishes to exercise their right to free speech?  Clearly that is a little too much for the Constitution and our Country to bear.

Watching all of this transpire, there is something that bothers me.  How is it that all of our national symbols have become synonymous with respect for the military?  It's as if there is nothing else our nation stands for.

It's a free country of course.  If you want to make the anthem a symbol of the sacrifice given by so many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines then I suppose you can go right ahead.  Veterans and those presently serving exemplify some of the best impulses of our culture, and if you choose to venerate them by placing your hand over your heart and facing the flag as the anthem is played or sung, it's your right to do so.

That....is a pretty big flag.

But we never collectively decided that this is the case, that that is what our National Anthem is supposed to mean for everyone.  I don't remember having a national convention in which we decided that "heretofore from this date the National Anthem shall be an icon through which we remember the sacrifice of our nation's armed forces".  No one gets to say definitively what a piece of our culture represents.  So you can't expect everyone to view the national anthem in the same way.

I don't see it that way.  I'm not sure how I see it, honestly.  Sometimes, sure, I think of the troops.  Sometimes I think of all the blessings that I have as an American, and how lucky I am to be one.  Sometimes I think of the promise of our nation and the fact that our anthem (the verse we sing, at least) ends intriguingly in a question, as if asking us if we have done all we can to live up to the promise of our nation.  But there are other times I think of how the tune is a British drinking song, and how hard it is to sing as a result, and how not good the person singing it is at singing it, and whether that person is lip synching or not.  Then there are other times where I think how interesting it is that our anthem (the verse we sing, at least) ends intriguingly in a question, as if suggesting that we have not gone far enough, as if to suggest that we are a long way from living up to the promise of our nation, a truth held self evident that All Men are Created Equal.

So I can never quite bring myself to place my hand over my heart while it is sung.   We've done some amazing, wonderful things as a nation.  But like so many others, we have also done some horrible things, sometimes perhaps by not doing enough.  We have much to answer for.  America is my home, and I love it so, and yet....

...Reflexive patriotism bothers me, a bit.  It's almost like going to Church and getting your sins forgiven, accepting the grace without reckoning with how in fact you have erred, and what you might learn from it.

 We, as a nation, owe an incredible debt, an almost unpayable debt, to those who have served our country.

But I wonder if going through these rituals of national respect satisfies the collective guilt that some of us must feel about sending other people to die and kill for us.  Anthem sung and penance paid, we go on with our merry lives until the next football game, using our symbols to build a wall of separation between our normal lives and the wars we fight.

You might say it's the least we can do to show respect for our military, to stand and place our hands over our hearts while the anthem is played.  I would argue that we owe much more than that.  We have to take it upon ourselves to ensure that "from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Sometimes that means taking a stand, in which ever way you can, to show how far away we are from realizing our best aspirations, that we still need to strive boldy towards a better future together, rather than rely on a few brave souls to do it for us. We all have a stake and a responsibility to make our country live up to its promise.

Colin Kaepernick and his band of renown are doing their best to make the most powerful statement they can with that end in mind.

And for that, I have to applaud them.