You may be surprised to read this, but in 2016 when NFL player Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the playing of the national anthem prior to the game, it did not bother me. But very quickly, it had ruffled enough feathers to become a genuine kerfuffle.

Frankly, I couldn’t get all that exercised about it. It seemed to me that he had every right to do it. Even as a Veteran…no, especially as a Vet…I always believed those kind of protests were precisely the sorts of freedoms I had been serving to safeguard. Our free speech protections don’t exist to protect speech we like or agree with. They exist precisely for the opposite reason: to protect speech we don’t agree with and don’t like. This is the crucial point many on the political left, who are so fond of speech codes, miss. I think, in this instance, Kaepernick picked an issue wherein the political right was vulnerable to being suckered into a silly, counterproductive fight, and they were forced to defend an ultimately un-American position. I think if we all had just ignored him, like any sensible adult does when a child throws a temper tantrum, it would have blown over quickly.

Now, if you’ve read any of this blog before, you will certainly know that I in no way endorse Kaepernick’s worldview. I believe the reasons Kaepernick provided to justify his actions revealed him to be a shallow thinker who possesses a dubious moral compass and suffers from a severe gratitude deficit. But that’s just my opinion. He has a right to his. And, in this circumstance*, he most definitely has a right to kneel during the anthem. Additionally, despite my disagreements with his assessment of America, I must give Kaepernick credit where credit is due. Many may not have realized that Kaepernick began his protests by sitting on the bench during the anthem. However, after receiving a thoughtful letter from a U.S. Army veteran, and NFL player, who encouraged Kaepernick in a private meeting to respectfully kneel instead of casually sit during the anthem, as a compromise and a show of respect for veterans, Kaepernick listened and began to kneel instead.

(*If he were representing the United States in any athletic competition, then I would say the governing body, such as the USOC, would be justified in dismissing any athlete who engaged in such behavior. I think it is cowardly and shameful that the USOC allows the women’s national soccer team to kneel during the anthem. Representing your country is a privilege that comes with certain expectations, one of them being to represent your country with pride. If an individual cannot do that then they can go kneel at home or play for some other country they like better. The USOC should have the courage to dismiss those players, even if they are the best players. If we lose, we lose.)

When it comes to the First Amendment, I’m with former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Hailed, and rightly so, as a model conservative jurist, Scalia demonstrated the proper conception of our First Amendment when he sided with the majority in Texas v Johnson, the 1989 case in which the Court struck down as unconstitutional a Texas law that prohibited the burning of the American flag.

A MODEST PROPOSAL

All of this may seem like old news, but it has been brought back to my mind in light of the NFL’s decision to play two anthems before each game. No, not because there are suddenly Canadian teams in the league, like there are in the NHL. That league is right to honor the home country of each franchise in cases where a Canadian based team plays and American based one. Besides, “Oh, Canada!” is a rousing tune if you ask me.

In a deeply cynical manuever, reflective of the NFL’s craven approach to most of these issues, the NFL has decided to side with the destructive voices determined to further divide us into warring grievance camps. They recently announced they are going to have two songs performed before each game. The Star Spangled Banner and a separate national anthem for black Americans.

I’m not going to get into the tired arguments about Francis Scott Key (it seems he was by all accounts racist in his thinking about blacks) or the supposed racist parts of the third verse (the word slave is mentioned, but a competent reading of the verse in light of the history of the War of 1812 reveals Key is referring to persons in the British Army who had been conscripted, not African American slaves).

I would like, instead, to offer a compromise. Let’s not refer to either song as our National Anthem.

Let’s face it, The Star Spangled Banner is a mess of a song, lyrically and musically. Ask many a professional singer, and they will say it is terribly difficult to sing, requiring a tremendous vocal range to sing it well. There are only so many Whitney Houston’s to go around, and those talents can’t be there to sing it all the time. Why should we subject ourselves to this, the much more common result when folks try to sing it? And those lyrics? Have you listened to them? One interrupted phrase after another, never quite getting around to the point (I know what you’re thinking…I’m not that bad, am I?). The only inspiring part is the last line.

Lift E’vry Voice and Sing is referred to as the Black national anthem. As fine as the sentiments that are expressed in that song are, chronicling blacks struggles during slavery and Jim Crow, it is consciously promoted as a song for black Americans alone. Do we really need to further emphasize our differences and points of friction in our NATIONAL anthem?

In light of the fact that neither of these choices are satisfying, I hereby offer the following modest proposal:

We should adopt “America the Beautiful” as our National Anthem. The song is much easier to sing and the lyrics speak movingly and directly about beauty, faith, and brotherhood; all things we could use much more of these days.

One more thing. While not always practically possible to have performed, the U.S. government approved official rendition of the song must be Ray Charles’ 1972 recording. If your emotions are not stirred and chills do not run down your body when you hear this soulful, lovingly rendered tribute to America, then I’m not sure anything could.