Ooops, We Were Late for the National Anthem Again

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Every sporting event that we have attended over the past few years — baseball, soccer, hockey, amateur, or professional — we have always missed the singing of the national anthem. Weird. So odd that it keeps happening over and over and over again. Well, not actually. We have worked out the timing like a great caper. We arrive and wait in line for our food just long enough that there is no way we will be in our seats for the singing of the national anthem.

Since I was a child, I was always uncomfortable saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school. As we raised our kids, I found myself squirmy as they did the same in their school and had the national anthem played at their sporting events. As a Christian, I am fine with prayers, vows, and pledges as religious ritual, but when it comes to public and political gatherings, it has always given Christian Nationalism vibes.

Before I explain why we no longer participate in the national anthem portion of the program, let me share a few things I believe are important for folks to know.

I don't hate the flag.

About the American flag: I do not understand why people are ready to go to war over someone burning a flag, but do not blink an eye when a flag is turned into a thong or Speedo. I mean, desecration is desecration, no? But I digress. I grew up around so many flags. I come from an immigrant family where there were American flags around ALL THE TIME. My grandfather, Chuck Chow (then paper son name, "Fong"), fought for the US Army in WWII. When I see a flag, the first thing I think about is my Grandfather, the affection he had for the country he came to "illegally," fought for, and loved.

I believe that protest is patriotic.

I have never understood the idea of "If you don't like it, leave!" as a response to criticism directed at a community. Sure, there may be times when something may be so terrible that separation must be entertained, but I dare say that most critiques that are offered by members of a community are probably offered in the spirit of genuine love and hope, not as a comprehensive rejection. We love the community so much that we want it to be all it professes it to be. I do this with my family, myself, my church, and yes, my country. I feel like we all have a responsibility and obligation to hold one another accountable to the highest of our callings, so when it comes to being a citizen of the United States, what could be more patriotic than wanting our country to live up to its highest ideals? Yes, we will disagree on what these ideals are, but do not doubt that my motivation is no less patriotic than anyone else's, even if our ideals differ.

I protest in many forms.

One reason we do not go to our seats during the national anthem is that we simply cannot bring ourselves to stand for a country that is doing so much that we cannot support. We have a limited amount of public protest energy, and we will spend it on actions that are warranted. Public sporting events are not them. We also do not want to create a stir, invite commentary, or make a scene. We can also appreciate the talent that is often asked to perform at them, so while this is an act of public protest, it is even more so an act of personal integrity.

Okay, so now, why don't we make it to our seats...

We have not been fans of the NFL for a while, but really stopped engaging since 2016 when the NFL's Colin Kaepernick knelt during the singing of the national anthem during a football game, racist America lost its collective mind, and the NFL essentially banned him from football. Ah, the days when kneeling was considered controversial *sigh*.

For me, here are the three main reasons why I refuse to sing the national anthem, especially given our current political and social context:

See my Protest is Patriot note above, because this is where I start. With the backdrop of kidnappings and murders by ICE, cruel actions against the LGBTQIA+ community, arrests and expulsions of student protestors, capitulation of institutions of higher education, attacks on diversity efforts across all disciplines, and so much more, the last thing that I can do is sing at the top of my lungs that this is the "land of the free" no matter how much I wish it to be true. Sure, we have never fully lived up to those ideals, but there was always a thread of common purpose that showed we were trying. The current administration has taken a torch to that ideal, so soon this idea will no longer be a metaphor — only those who are actually free will be able to sing about freedom.

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

With our current administration sending warships to multiple regions of the world, threatening military action in multiple countries, and continuing American aggression in other countries, the last thing I want to do is cheer on our ability to bomb our enemies into submission. There might have been a day when one could justify that our national priorities were in line and we were on the right side of global history, but that day is not now, so there is no way I can sing:

And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there

Francis Scott Key was a slaveholder, so why are we continuing to lift up his work, especially since the third verse rejoiced in the bloodshed of any slave who dared to have joined the English to have fought for their freedom? No thank you.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
⁠That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
⁠Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

So those are my reasons. At the end of the day, I really do not get it. The National Anthem has not even been sung at sporting events for all that long, but it is treated as if the Founding Fathers willed its performance, and it is defended with a fervor that I would expect to be reserved for actual constitutional amendments. I doubt that we'll ever get it, but if we ever go to a sporting event with you and we are nowhere to be found during a certain portion of the festivities, you'll know where to find us.

If you're at a BayFC match this year and need somewhere to be during the national anthem, see you at the food trucks!

Peace,

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