Football season is here! The games have started, fans are crowding the stadiums, and football teams prepare to play their games and start off with the national anthem for America. Well, not all teams. Recently, The Seahawks have displayed their feelings by choosing not to participate or opt. out of the national anthem. This has people all over America going crazy!
They are in an outrage, speaking as if they HAVE to stand for the national anthem, as if they do not have a choice. Now personally I would always stand, but I do find this to be utterly absurd and hypocritical of the American people to get angry about this situation. The whole entire point of the United States is our freedom, which is why people come here in the first place. If they do not have the freedom to exercise their beliefs which includes not standing without getting judged, it beats the purpose of the United States of America. As citizens, the team has the right to express exactly how they feel about the anthem by not standing, and in some cases I actually agree with them. They feel as if the verse “ with liberty and justice for all”, is not actually true and accurate.
Lately, it has not been executed evenly. Our justice system is in many ways corrupt, and on multiple occasions racial profiling has still been a big deal. Now if it was liberty and justice for all, that would not be happening. Being a person of color or a different ethnicity other than caucasian or white has a huge impact on how some people treat you. Whether choosing to believe it or not it does happen all the time.
We are all labeled as “free” in this country, but we are not all being equally treated with the same gratitude, love and understanding. Getting back on the topic of the national anthem, originally there was a verse which actually glorified slavery and the death of slaves, which they eventually did take out. Now I don’t know about you, but that doesn't sound like liberty and justice for all. It sounds more like liberty and justice for all the people we want to give it to. This is why the citizens of The United States never cease to amaze me time after time. In debates about whether it is right to stand or not, most people lack the outside knowledge necessary about the national anthem to begin with. Yes, it was taken out, but it is still important to recognize how this country was incompetent with giving everyone the truth, justice and liberty they preached about.
I think many of us forget the true value and beauty of what it means to be an American in America. So I would appreciate it if you all took what I am about to say to heart. While living in the United States think to yourself, why are you here and what makes this country so great? You’ll think maybe it’s the food, maybe it’s the sports, or the schools, and plenty of other things. Eventually you will realize all of these things are great because we have the privilege of having this overwhelming amount of diversity and this gift to experience other people’s lifestyles and cultures because we are all free in America.
The key word is FREE. So please, whether you agree or disagree with the situation involving the national anthem, it is not your choice to say whether it is right or wrong. So humbly love the country you live in and allow all people to exercise their freedoms in whatever form they want.
