In light of some NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, I have been compelled to reflect on what the anthem means to me, personally.
The part that moves me the most are these words: “and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” The entire song, highlighted by these words, represents struggle. The British returned to the continent to get back what they’d lost in the Revolutionary War. This is, of course, known as the War of 1812. The anthem’s words were penned by Frances Scott Key, an eyewitness to the Battle of Fort McHenry outside Baltimore. In spite of the bombardment by the British against the fort, the commander did not surrender and our flag was “still there.”
So when I think of our anthem, I think of that battle and the struggle to defeat the British, not just once, but twice. When I stand for the anthem, I stand for struggles in our past, in our present and in our future. In the past, we struggled with slavery resulting in a Civil War that freed the slaves. Yet, we struggled to get that right, culminating in the civil-rights movement of the 1960s. Certainly, progress has been made but there is always more that can be done. And so we struggle on for justice and truth in the life of our country.
So, by all means, stand for the struggle and stand for the flag that is “still there.”
Lynda Small, Mount Vernon