Kaepernick is righter than you know-the national anthem celebrates slavery

I did not know that.

That is interesting, and certainly a reason to question the appropriateness of the Star-Spangled Banner as national anthem.

Of course, that isn’t what CK was protesting.

Most of the debate surrounding his sitting seems to be centered on whether it was “appropriate” or “effective.” I am not seeing much on the issue he was protesting. And although I haven’t tracked many comments on this either on the radio or online, there has been a predictable “How dare he slight the military men and women who risk and sacrifice their lives to protect his freedom?” as if the flag is a primarily a military symbol. I think THAT perspective is one worth questioning in itself.

The fact is that the flag is used primarily to shut people up in this country.

Yeah, I don’t know.

I wonder whether the people who are truly pissed off about this would be susceptible to persuasion in other ways anyway. And what are the alternatives?

What he has achieved is 3 or 4 days of people talking and writing about it, including the interesting piece that anchors this thread. That would not have been written if Kap stood up last weekend. Right?

It is true he can’t control the conversation once it begins, or even keep it focused on the issue he wants addressed (all kinds of digressions are going to crop up). But some people are talking about relevant aspects of this rather than just setting jerseys on fire and trolling the internet.

He needs to follow it up.

But, frankly, I don’t know what the cure is. It seems to me that police ought to be better trained. I’ve seen a video comparing training here versus Norway, and it’s kind of an eye-opener. And they should be trained to look for “tells” rather than to racially profile. Simulations can teach them that.

And we need to put more money are resources into minority communities, balance the way education is financed, and so on.

But none of that has any chance of happening without provocation of some kind. Had CK stood last weekend, this thread would not exist.

Found this via da google:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/seven-facts-star-spangled-banner/

In 1861, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. added a verse. Despite using the words “the land of the free,” Francis Scott Key had been a slave owner, and members of the Confederate Army wanted to claim his anthem. Holmes, an influential writer from Boston, wrote new lyrics advocating that American slaves be unchained. Holmes’ addition now appears in most official publications of the lyrics.

And then, there is historical evidence out there that ties these lines in the 3rd verse to the British habit of using hired mercenaries and captured American soldiers who were forced to work on the British behalf.

Nonetheless, even if the lyrics are meant in bigotry (it is known that FS Key owned slaves), it is clear that 99.9% of Americans don’t even know that 3rd verse and the vast majority would never sing them. Trying to tie past viewpoints to current understanding doesn’t seem fair to people who are alive today. Those should remain with the dead.

I think the song should be replaced. It celebrates our racist past, and it points to yet another time when words like “freedom” need to be footnoted. Let’s find a song that doesn’t need the footnotes.

As in, whenever people spout off about “freedom and liberty,” we should always ask “For whom?” When it comes to economics, social policy, education, health care — anything and everything. Freedom and liberty for whom?

Too often in American history, and right now, in the American present, freedom and liberty for one meant/means chains for another. In real terms.

And, yes, there are bigger problems in the world than the national anthem. But it’s a problem we could easily fix. Not so many of those these days. Change it. Find a song that speaks to our diversity, without celebrating slavery, or racism, or any kind of oppression of others, or “the Other.” Find a song that everyone can love, without any burden or sense of “bad faith” or alienation.

The nation should choose this song, together. It shouldn’t have been chosen for us.