Well said! And it seems so straight forward to me that if someone would just read the entire set of lyrics to the national anthem, they would logically be horrified. Unfortunately there are too many Americans who not only have illogical belief systems and won’t muster the courage to question them — many of them are simply incapable. When I taught composition, it was a struggle to get college kids to dissect a message critically; so to shift someone with less intellectual skills and motivation?

I know a number of people who I believe to be genuinely good at heart; some of them even have gay and black friends who they care about and would defend vigorously on a one-to-one basis. But when it comes to things like questioning the anthem? Just no can do. One of them posted something so patently false that I felt compelled to reply with just the link to Snopes. Her response? “But it could be true.” How on earth does one argue with that? What does it even mean?!

On the bright side, I asked my nephew in the military what he and his friends thought of the NFL issue. He responded that “we all think it’s dumb and the majority of us think we serve so people have the very right to do as they please [i.e., protest]”; and, “it’s not really about us, it’s about the civil rights inequality in our society.” (And he, by the way, comes from a rich, very white community.)

Which side will win? I really don’t know. I had so much more faith in people when I was younger. I guess you and I will keep writing and hoping for those tiny chinks in one’s armor to let the light in.