The Brouhaha

The controversy raised by Colin Kaepernick had been resurrected by none other than our president, who had suggested those protesting are not the children of morally upright mothers, and that their right to protest injustice is not legitimate.

I would point out that the President swore to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” It would seem he is not doing that at all. Instead, what he is doing is dividing us rather than uniting us, and seemingly claiming that some of our citizens do not possess the rights our Constitution has granted us, to wit: the right to “peaceably gather to protest,” and the right of free speech (wherein it causes no harm to others and breaks no laws).

I would also point out that our service members do not swear their oath of office to the flag. This is their oath of office: “I (insert name of enlistee) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear truthful allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

Military personnel are not “fighting and dying for the flag,” they are doing so for the Constitution, and therefore for our rights. They are defending the right of all of us to speak freely and to protest and to vote, for all of our rights.

We have a long history of protesting. That is how we became the United States. We protested against taxation without representation with massive rioting and destruction of private property while in disguise (the Boston Tea Party), sparking that war and gaining our independence.

We protested slavery itself, resulting in the Civil War and gaining freedom for approximately 15 percent of our population (the number enslaved here in 1810). We protested inequality and women gained the right to vote and to own property. We protested “separate but equal,” and ended segregation.

My research has found that Francis Scott Key, who penned the poem “In Defense of Fort M’Henry” on Sept. 14, 1814, during the War of 1812, was born to privileged slave owners, and purchased his first slave in 1800/1801. He became a lawyer and was an amateur poet. As a lawyer, he vigorously defended the institution of slavery, and also litigated against colored people, being a strong critic of the antislavery movement until his death. He wished for freed slaves to be sent back to Africa.

There are actually four stanzas, but the clearly racist, third stanza is not used. In it he speaks of the “foul footsteps” of slaves who fought alongside the British against us, for their own freedom from slavery. So it does, indeed, have a racist background of which most of us are unaware.\

The tune of the song is based on “To Anacreon in Heaven,” written by John Stafford Smith, a British member of the Anacreon Society. Anacreon was a Greek lyric poet, noted for his drinking songs and hymns.

The song was first used officially by the U.S. Navy in 1889, which was 75 years after it was written. President Woodrow Wilson used it in 1916, and on Mar 3, 1931, 117 years after it was written it officially became the National Anthem by congressional resolution, signed by President Herbert Hoover. That was only 86 years ago.

The protests, the kneeling during the playing of the anthem, are to protest the unequal treatment people of color receive in their own country. Did you know that Jackie Robinson, now revered for breaking the color barrier in the MLB, could not bring himself to either sing the National Anthem or to salute the flag? So Colin, as well as the other players participating in this protest, is in good company.

I would rather the President bring our social injustices to light and work to correct those than call for the firing of people who are peacefully protesting for their fellow citizens, by quietly praying for change.