21 Should We Be Forced to Stand for the National Anthem? (I)
John Manning
The national anthem is a song that reminds us that we live in a free country due to the fact that our soldiers fight to keep us safe. The song is mostly played before sporting events to respect and honor the ones who risked their lives so we can live ours in peace. The first article talks about these exact things. The song is part of our nations history touches upon the fact that some people have started sitting or kneeing during the song. Theres no rule that states a person must stand or take off his hat when the song in playing, but people see it as a sign of disrespect if you don’t. The article argues that patriotism is doing something to help our home, our country, and it’s okay to knee or sit if you are “standing up” for a different cause that supposable helps the country.
The other article talks about the football quarterback who choses to sit during the national anthem before a preseason game, and the games followings. The article states that the quarterback did it to make a point about the mistreatment of African Americans in this country. The article continues to say that it is just because he is standing up for a cause that has an impact on the United States.
I think that everyone should stand and respect the anthem. It’s our freedom we are respecting and sitting down is like saying you don’t care about freedom. But if we didn’t have freedom, then people would care. This song is a reminder that we are here in this safe country of freedom because of the people who protect us. Nobody should disrespect that even if they are trying to make a point about another cause. The quarterback who was sitting to make a point about racism really didn’t do anything. He got attention and publicity, which is all he wanted, but didn’t achieve anything. Most people thought,” Oh he is raising awareness for African American injustice, that’s nice.” BUT NOBODY DID ANYTHING ABOUT IT. It would have been more effective and less disrespectful to open a charity or create an organization that helped support the communities affect by the tragic racist event. Not everybody would know his name or the effort he was putting into the issue, but the people who did know now have a chance to help out and make a difference too. Overall, Our freedom and the people who risked there lives for us to have it, should be respected. The least we could do is stand for two minutes and appreciate those people as the anthem is played.
