It all started on September 14, 1814 with a man named Francis Scott Key. The War of 1812 was in full effect and Key was in a position to watch the brutal bombardment of Fort McHenry by the mighty Royal Navy. As a respected Washington, D.C., attorney, Key had been sent to the area by President James Madison to negotiate the release of a prominent surgeon. By all accounts, it is a battle that should have produced a British victory, however, at the end of the battle, the American flag waved victorious over Fort McHenry; in turn inspiring Key to write a poem which would ultimately be named "The Star-Spangled Banner". The poem was ultimately put to music and by 1889 it was being used during raising of flag ceremonies, by 1916 it was being used during military events, and finally on March 4, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill officially adopting "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States of America.
The subject of “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been the topic of much debate in recent weeks thanks to Colin Kaepernick. For those of you who have been living under a rock, or simply do not watch the news, Colin Kaepernick is a quarterback for the San Francisco 49er’s football team. While he was originally the starting quarterback and enjoying a high rate of popularity, due to injuries, recoveries, and performance he is now the back-up quarterback of the team. At the beginning of this pre-season, however, it was unclear as to who the starting quarterback for the team would be. On August 26, 2016, Kaepernick sent shockwaves through the NFL and through the American public in general by noticeably sitting down during the playing of the national anthem, thereby thrusting the topic, message, and respect of the national anthem back into the public light.
Notice my word choice —‘back into the public light’. Since its creation, “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been the topic of much debate and even protest. There are many others who feel that “The Star-Spangled Banner” is not a song that is appropriate to be our country’s national anthem, due to what many people view as racist undertones. The reality is that the song does have some history that many people may be unaware of. For example, although Key was an amateur poet, he always intended for the poem to be set to music, most notably a song entitled “To Anacreon in Heaven”. The irony of this is that “To Anacreon in Heaven” was an English song composed in 1775 and was viewed as a popular drinking song.
Another element of this song that many people are unaware of is the fact that “The Star-Spangled Banner” is actually four verses long. However, only the first verse is sung during patriotic events and sporting events. The third verse is the verse that critics of the song have the most issue with. The verse specifically discusses the slaves that were fighting during the battle and the war overall:
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’ver the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Critics of the song believe that these words were included as a statement of Key’s pro-slavery standings. Essentially, critics believe Key was stating that it really did not matter that these slaves were going to be killed. They were either going to be killed on the battlefield, or captured by British soldiers and either way it was a fate that they deserved simply because they were slaves.
Let’s now circle back to the topic of protesting of the national anthem. The truth is that sports figures protesting the national anthem is actually nothing new. During the 1996 NBA season, Denver Nuggets player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was suspended from the NBA for protesting the national anthem. Ultimately, his career never recovered. College basketball players Deidra Chatman and Toni Smith turned their back on the flag during the national anthem in protest of the Iraq War in 2003. In 2014, NBA player Dion Waiters stayed in the locker room during the time the national anthem was played. Originally it was reported that he did so because he was a Muslim, however it was later reported that this was not the case and that Waiters did not appear for the national anthem because of a miscommunication. Either way, there are multiple occasions of sports figures protesting the national anthem for one reason or another. The question then becomes why now does Colin Kaepernick, a seemingly talented athlete who has always flown under the drama radar when it comes to publicity, see fight to take a seat against the national anthem?
If you believe what Kaepernick says, then he is taking stand (well, seat) against the oppression of people of color in the United States, specifically citing those who have who have been killed by police officers. The answer to this? The NFL has stated that while players are encouraged to stand for the national anthem, there is not a requirement for the players to stand. It is a very thin line. While fans expect their favorite players to stand for a song which they believe represents and celebrates the pride of Americans, sitting down for the national anthem also represents an influence cornerstone of American history: a person’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
It is not up to this writer to deem whether Kaepernick and the other athletes who have since joined his ‘cause’ is right or wrong. All I can write is my own personal views on this topic. The timing of Kaepernick’s protest is suspect to me. Kaepernick could make headlines or shockwaves on this subject any time that he wanted to. Why was nothing said by him prior to the season starting if he felt so strongly about the topic? If he was truly that outraged, does he not have PR people that could get him a platform to speak from prior to the season starting? I question his sincerity in the sense that this could easily be seen as a publicity stunt to either get himself kicked off the team (he DID request a trade very recently) or simply jump onto the bandwagon of joining a social justice cause. Kaepernick may very well feel sincerely about the actions he is taking. However, when you are photographed during practice wearing socks of pigs in police officer uniforms, I have a bit of a problem believing that he wants unity or a resolution to the issue he is discussing.
With regard to the protesting the national anthem as a whole, I have always viewed the national anthem as a symbol of unity in our country. After September 11, 2001, it didn’t matter what color or race you were. All Americans joined together and it was unthinkable to ever sit for the national anthem when it was played. Where did that sense of unity and American pride go? So many supporters of movements such as Black Lives Matter state that racism is still alive and active in the United States (which is very true), however it appears that racism was forgotten about when Americans joined together. I guess that was only for a small amount of time, however. It is a shame to me that the sense of American pride only seems to come out during a national tragedy. Why is it that people need to die in some kind of mass event for Americans to look past their differences and join together to open lines of communication? Maybe when that question is answered, we can finally start healing as a people and a country instead of a race.
Either way, God Bless America!
