My Father Stood For The Anthem, For The Same Reason That Colin Kaepernick Sits
As a child, I found my father's love of the national anthem utterly bewildering. His was the generation of men born free but shackled by bigotry. So why did he sound so proud, singing that song?
This piece originally ran in September, 2016, when Colin Kaepernick was still with the San Francisco 49ers.
Daddy would not have liked Colin Kaepernick. Had the San Francisco quarterback refused to stand for the national anthem in my father's presence, Daddy would have fixed him in a stare that could freeze the blood in your veins. Then, to no one in particular — but to everyone within earshot — he'd give the young man a two-sentence lesson in patriotic etiquette.
"You stand during the national anthem," he'd say, punctuating his words with fire. "People died for that flag."
As a child coming of age in New Orleans in the 1960s, I found my father's love of country utterly bewildering. His was the generation of men
