I heard an interesting take on race where the Carolinas Panthers QB Cam Newton described the difference in human beings comes down to 1/8 of an inch. Its amazing the significance that measurement has. Even more amazing when you realize the measurement is identifying the physical thickness of human skin.
This conversation that Cam Newton had came about because of the actions of Colin Kaepernick last week during a San Francisco 49ers preseason football game. A game, where it was noticed, that he was silently sitting during the national anthem of the USA. After the game it was explained by Colin, that he would be sitting until he sees changes in how minorities are treated.
Not much shocks me, but I was certainly and genuinely surprised by the amount of heat this man has taken for his actions. I’ve always been impressed by the patriotism that many of my fellow countrymen/women have shown, but in a way I’ve always questioned what the root or genesis of this patriotism comes from for some people in this country. Through this backlash towards Colin, I also learned a lot from those on the other side of this. For one, I did not know that Francis Key’s poem "The Defence of Fort McHenry", which the national anthem is derived from, had two additional stanzas. The third stanza when read could give anyone of color pause.
The third stanza reads:
“And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,A home and a country, should leave us no more?Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.No refuge could save the hireling and slave,From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave.”
Now, historically one would note that when this was written, Francis Scott Key is talking about the slaves that jumped sides to Britain. So yes, it gives pause on the brutality of the language, but its talking about slaves that I don’t believe could have been fighting for their freedom with the British, well since the British at that time still had slavery in their Caribbean colonies. But, “the how dare you” feeling of American patriotism is on its finest display in this poem. Key, who himself was pro-slavery, seems to be writing in a way that these slaves deserved what they got for switching sides. Which to me is quite off-putting.
With an anthem like that, it gives pause to the sanctity and utter perfection that many patriotic Americans give our flag. The backlash continued as many people considered the behavior to be a slap in the face to the military. Many stated that the military that has given so much for our freedoms have been disrespected by Colin’s behavior. I disagree with these sentiments as well. I can’t correlate using the freedoms that we are granted to make a statement, as an affront to the people who helped grant them. It feels as if this is treated like this:
A friend makes you a sandwich, you eat it and then say I hate the person who made this sandwich.
Versus
A friend makes you a sandwich, you eat, you say thank you, but mention this sandwich is giving you indigestion.
The first idea there would be the equivalent to what I think those who are upset with Colin are conflating his behavior with.
By sitting, Colin is merely bringing attention to the fact that currently this country needs some Tums. (Something to correct the current climate/behavior of its people)
As a child of immigrants, I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow-up here. But I’m also not naïve enough to believe that its perfect and that we can’t do better. While I’m not one saying we should remove Black History month, but I am one to think it is a shame to relegate the dark part of American history to one month. Black History in America, is American history. It shouldn’t be a separate course; it should be as prevalent in American history as anything else. Perhaps black history month, can be black culture month.
The flag which was established when a black person wasn’t considered fully human needs addressing. Because I think as the stars were added, it is almost like a continuation of what the US was when it started. And I think the USA is not the same place. Once black people were considered fully human, or maybe after the emancipation proclamation the country was recreated. Note, that I realize that life wasn’t that great immediately after the Civil War, but it was a real start.
Now I mention the flag because I don’t see how Old Glory represents all her people. I look back to the flag of my parent’s home country. It is made up of three colors: Green, Gold, and Black.
Gold recalls the shining sun, black reflects hardships, and green represents the land. It was changed to black representing the strength and creativity of the people which has allowed them to overcome the odds, yellow for the golden sunshine, and green for the lush vegetation of the island
Now contrast to our flag here in the USA
"The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice."
II struggle a little bit here with the purity and innocence part. The concept that the country was built in part by slave labor and considers itself innocent just seems to be counter. And herein lies why I believe there are so many upset with Colin. Our history here has been blanketed to hide our ugly past. In doing so, we deny the story of our slave history, we gloss over the years of mistreatment.
The flag has stood by for: Slave Labor, Jim Crow Laws, the infiltration of the ghetto with drugs, the subsequent was on drugs, Japanese internment camps, unfair lending practices to minorities, voting fraud, gerrymandering.
So with all that, it all comes back to Colin sitting down for that 1/8 of an inch. I love my country and I love all its people. But I just don’t know if this America, where we go on the defense first, catch feelings second is willing to listen first and make positive inclusive changes second.
