“Oh, say can you see? By the dawn’s early lights.” These are lyrics from our national anthem. When heard, most people feel compelled to stand and place their hand over their heart. Others, choose to kneel and make a statement. In this country, you have the freedom to do both. There’s two sides to this story. Which one is right to you? One side of this national anthem story is the traditional hand-over-heart stance. When the national anthem is being played, it’s not just playing to announce the start of a ball game. It’s played to show honor and respect to those who are currently defending our country, the veterans, or and those who have died serving.
Our hearts are touched by the thought of our dear soldiers’ hard work for this country. The other option being brought to life is to kneel while the anthem is being played. This all developed after San Francisco’s former QB, Colin Kaepernick decided to take a daring stance and kneel during the anthem. While this stance did upset several Americans, Kaepernick technically didn’t do anything illegal, based off our First Amendment. He chose to kneel because he believed there was no reason to honor a flag that flew over a country that oppressed people of different ethnic backgrounds besides white. While you may not agree with his stance, you can’t shun the man for sticking with his beliefs. Try not to use contractions in a formal essay The beautiful thing about this country is that we have freedom. While not every human in this world gets a chance to express their thoughts or beliefs, this great country allows us to do so.
Not every human will agree with what you think, but if you want to speak it, you can. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Colin Kaepernick’s stance isn’t brave but it is freely allowed thanks to our rights. If a person doesn’t agree with what Kaepernick is doing, they, too, can express their opinion and it’s freely allowed. That’s the beauty of it all. “Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” These are lyrics from our national anthem. Whether you stand or kneel, this anthem will forever be dear to this country. You have that right and you should hold tightly to it.
