When San Francisco 49er's quarterback, Colin Kaepernick decided to protest by sitting out the national anthem all hell broke loose. But before siding with Kaepernick or the rest of America I decided to analyze the situation for myself and come up with my own conclusion. The national anthem which is titled "The Star Spangled Banner" is a poem created by Francis Scott Key. The original title of the poem was "The Defense of Fort McHenry". Francis Scott Key was inspired to write this poem after he witnessed Fort McHenry being bombarded by the British. The attempt to destroy the fort by the British was unsuccessful and Francis Scott Key was also inspired to see the American Flag still flying high. In the first stanza of the "Star Spangled Banner" Francis Scott Key eludes to this scene with this famous line, "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there". The part that history doesn't want you to know is that Francis Scott Key was a slave owner who believed that Africans in America were inferior and he openly opposed the abolitionist movements in America.
The highly controversial and most scrutinized line of the "Star Spangled Banner" comes from the third stanza. "No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave." For those who don't know, a hireling at that time was someone who just fought in the war for the money and not the cause of independence. The slaves that Francis was talking about are the slaves that were trying to enlist in the British army to escape American slavery. On one end of the war, America was fighting against an oppressive British government in hopes of gaining their independence. On the other end of the war, America was oppressing men and women from Africa in a chattel slave system that kept them in bondage for life. The nickname "land of the free, and the home of the brave," was created by a guy that had slaves and was racist. The image of America being the land of the free and the home of the brave is still hard to grasp for some people in today's time. It is the duty of American citizens that benefit from the freedoms that are promised in this country, to ensure that every American enjoys the same liberties.
Kaepernick who is African American and white, still feels like there is more work to be done in this country to ensure that everyone is treated fair. Oppression is a real thing in this country, and there are people that don't feel comfortable saluting the national anthem. It is our duty as American's to look into the history of our country, learn from the mistakes that were made by our fore-parents, and do what it takes to ensure that we never make those mistakes again. To all the people that took offense to Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem should try and see things through his eyes instead of tearing him down. It is his right to sit or salute the flag, and neither option makes him more or less of an American.
The troops that fought for our country are still appreciated and respected, and in my eyes aren't the targets of this protest. It's the men and women that have the power to make changes that choose not to. People see that he's an NFL quarterback with a lot of money, and assume that he's never been oppressed or suffered from racism. However, what they don't see is whatever hardships he's been through in his past to achieve the current status he's at right now. We need people of power and influence such as Kaepernick and others like him to speak up for the people of this country that deal with oppression. I love America and am proud to be an American, but there is a ton of room for improvement. We are a great country, arguably greater than we have ever been. However, we can be greater.
