Keep Your Kaepernick

My biggest fear when singing an anthem is to forget a word. If an anthem singer forgets a word, to me, it suggests a lack of preparation, which suggests a lack of respect for the responsibility that comes with singing a national anthem. The anthem signifies, or celebrates, a heartfelt love of country and deep appreciation for all who have made our country worth loving. I think of the tens of thousands of soldiers who bravely fought and sadly died on the battlefield only because they were doing their duty, just as soldiers continue to do now.

Too many singers make a mockery of national anthems by forgetting lyrics, improvising melodies, or showboating with fist pumps, twirling towels and other idiotically inappropriate behavior; then there are the players who kneel during its performance.

I understand Black Lives Matter and the tragic truth is that, to varying extents, no one seems to be hearing the urgency of the message. Change is taking too long and happening at too high a price. The US was founded on the noblest of principles, values and ideals and it is falling short of itself. As an NFL athlete, to kneel during the US anthem before tens of thousands of stadium fans and hundreds of thousands more television viewers, is to slap the country in the face, and I suppose that was the goal. In an instant, the world took notice. Perhaps it was necessary and perhaps it was brave. The racism problem in the United States is terrible and Colin Kaepernick's controversial leap of faith is as good a place to spark change as any.

Singing anthem at Als game

To me though, kneeling during the anthem also slaps soldiers in the face. I see their memory, their service and sacrifice as a sacred untouchable, and their families must feel the same way. The flag and the anthem are symbols of what they built and fortified with their willing or reluctant bravery, blood and lives. To insult them is too great a shame. Protesting the anthem seems like protesting the soldiers and their sacrifices. They did not defend racist cops. They did not fight so that law enforcement could indulge in excessive use of force, brutality, profiling, discrimination and unapologetic murder. They fought for the precious freedom that professional athletes enjoy when they kneel on sidelines.

Maybe some of the soldiers who fought and died would say, go for it, take a knee, have your message heard and you’re welcome. I just think it’s going too far and their legacy of sacrifice is eternally too great to dishonor. Our duty is to honor our soldiers, past, present and future but, certainly, our duty is also to improve our society and I would prefer a way that does not dishonour our Canadian war dead. 

Perhaps I'm attaching too much value to the US anthem compared to the Canadian anthem. Some suggest the US anthem, like the US flag, has been stained and tainted by racism and Americans protesting it are partly protesting its mixed symbolism. People insist the US anthem does not represent to Americans what the Canadian anthem represents to Canadians. I’m surprised to hear that because I’m under the impression our anthems are about noble ideals and the brave people who sacrificed to help bring about positive change which, I suppose, makes it very much about soldiers and, ironically, partly about Colin Kaepernick.

At first the kneeling was more about the cause than the player and then it was more about the player than the cause. Now sideline protests in the US have become clouded, yet fashionable, and seem to be as much about power and posturing for solidarity as they are about presidential pettiness and politics.

I’ve had the honor of singing the Canadian anthem at Alouettes games. To sing it now and see a CFL player kneeling, would make me profoundly sad. I hope it never gets to that. I don’t want the Kaepernick approach to fighting causes to confound our understated patriotism here in Canada. The Alouettes have reached out to Colin Kaepernick. Maybe he'd be a great quarterback in the CFL but to further his cause, it almost seems like he has no choice but to wait for a job in the NFL. 

In the name of important causes, turn your back on cops, courts, legislators and leaders, if you must. Test your creativity.

Leave the anthem in peace.