youtube.com
as i watched all this stuff on tv this weekend
thats the question i pondered
actually
i didnt have to ponder very long
the answer is
no
now there was a time several years ago in my younger years
as the vietnam war protests took over
it really gained speed when the vietnam vets who came back
from the war
began to oppose the war
their unsupport pushed the us to eventually leave the war
this war that may of my family friends and neighbors had
to fight in
destroyed a lot of lives
why were we there in the first place
i just didnt feel right about the war
i was disappointed in our country
for all the lives that got destroyed fighting over there
thats why
i use to sit for the national anthem
like many at that time did
now years later
i
knowing
my belief systems
how i feel
i could not kneel
now i am a white southern male
who as far as i know has not ever been discriminated against
when my teenage sons went out at night
i didnt have to worry if they were stopped by the police
i didnt have to worry
well i worried but i didnt have to worry about this
i didnt ever have to
eat in a segregated restaurant ie out the back door
go to an inferior school
not be able to drink water with other races
not be able to do other things that being white allowed me to do
so
i cant really put myself inside the heart of those mostly black players
i havent lived through what they and their families have lived though
but
i can respect them for doing what they feel needs to be done
peacefully
the two most memorable pictures for me from the last weekend
at the national anthem ceremonies at the nfl stadiums
were
wideopencountry.com
meghan linsey
a white country western singer
as she finshed singing the national anthem
both nfl teams stayed in the locker room
she kneeled down
to support
the others right to do so
i must say as i watched her sing the national anthem
a rendition
that as a lover of country western music
just makes me feel tingly inside to have it sang that way
yes
i teared up listening to her sing it
foxnews
the other
was al villanueva
the big ole offensive tackle
a decorated medaled iraq /afghanistan war veteran
he stood at attention
his hand over his heart for the national anthem
still
he supported his teammates right to kneel during the anthem
to protest those indignities that are wrong with race relations
in america
they supported his right to stand outside for the national anthem
so
knowing all i know
knowing how i feel
knowing how others feel
i feel certain that
i would
stand at attention
my left arm would be locked around my fellow teammates right arm
my right arm would be extended down with my right hand
on his shoulder
my black teammate
so he would know that i supported him
then
i would look up to the fluttering flag
knowing what it means to us
listening to the anthem
a good singing of it like meghan linsey did always brings
a tear to my eye
a fluttering in my heart
then when those planes or helicopters fly over
thats when the tears start to flow
the chills come all over my body
i think of those like my uncle shot in ww2
my neighbors killed in vietnam
yes
my answer would be
no
i would stand
the organicgreen doctor
No comments:
Post a Comment