Pride and glory and honor, — all

Live in the color to stand or fall.

— The Flag Goes By by Henry Holcomb Bennet

“An anthem plays, pure and sweet—

The crowd all stands to their feet.

Hands o’er hearts to show their love,

Of the great symbol waving above—

But one does not stand, nor change his pose,

No respect to his great nation, does he show.

Instead he calls this symbol of pride,

One of oppression for the tears they cried.

But what of the tears, shed by those,

Whom this flag was given over many woes.

Folded and placed o'er a hero’s grave,

Those tears you don’t respect, although all—

is the price they paid.

Stand to your feet, for your flag goes by,

The crimson red, the blood of those who die.

They die not for glory nor passing fame,

They die for love and the land of the brave.”

Kaepernick may have indeed taken a stand, by remaining in his seat.

However, it was a disrespectful stand.

That flag, the red, white, and blue, the one he CALLED a symbol of oppression.

Does he not think of all those who have fought and died under that banner

Whose blood it is that makes those red stripes to shine crimson?

Does he forget those, the Fighting Red Tails? Brave men of their country, though seen as different, who stood under that flag and who fought for THEIR own country?

Does he dare to call their fight misfought?

Does he forget what that banner is ACTUALLY a symbol for?

Does he forget that the red is for that courage that won us this beautiful country?

That the white is for the purity of hearts who stand under it?

Perhaps he has forgotten that the blue stands for the justice this nation would give to all people?

I will not deny that this country has had its times of injustice, but that comes from the people.

People who FORGET what their flag stands for. People who have FORGOTTEN that WE ARE the land of the free.

We MUST NOT stand against our OWN flag. That FLAG is OUR symbol of pride. If WE do not honor it, then who will?

I understand his desire to take a bold stand, but he has taken the WRONG way about it.

Take your stand as you please, but do not disrespect OUR flag.

For THIS flag is the banner under which we have won our freedoms, this same banner is the one that was seen floating over Fort McHenry.

THIS banner, is the symbol that we will press on. That we will not lose our faith in this, OUR country. If you disrespect that, you have spit on the American dream.

What is passed is passed and what is done, is done. We cannot change history, though we would wish to. We can, however, change our future.

I ask you, help change our future, restore our flag to what she once was.

I say to you, next time she passes by.

Stand, and hats off!

For OUR flag, the symbol of OUR home, is passing by.