APPARENTLY THERE IS OUTRAGE IN THE COUNTRY BECAUSE SOME
PEOPLE ARE NOT STANDING FOR THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, AND FOR
GOOD REASON, TO BRING TO LIGHT AN ISSUE WHERE AFRICAN-AMERICANS
ARE NOT BEING TREATED THE SAME AS WHITE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY.
THAT IS A PROVABLE FACT, THEY ARE KILLED BY COPS ON A MUCH
LARGER SCALE PER CAPITA EVEN WHEN THEY ARE UNARMED, SO IT'S
NOT LIKE THEY ARE MORE DANGEROUS -- EVEN WHEN THEY ARE UNARMED,
KILLED AT A MUCH GREATER PERCENTAGE.
ARRESTED AT A
GREATER PERCENTAGE EVEN IF THEY ARE DOING THE SAME CRIME AT THE
SAME RATE AS WHITE AMERICANS.
THERE IS A PROBLEM, COLIN
KAEPERNICK STARTED POINTING IT OUT, NOW IT HAS TAKEN ON A LIFE
OF ITS OWN.
THERE ARE HIGH SCHOOL COACHES, PLAYERS, ALL
KNEELING.
LAST NIGHT ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, THREE EAGLES
PLAYERS DID IT, STEVEN MEANS, MALCOLM JENKINS, RON BROOKS.
I
LOVE WHEN THEY RAISE THEIR FIST AND THE HAND -- IN THE AIR, I
SHOULD SAY.
I THINK IT IS A POWERFUL POSE, AND I THINK IT IS
FOR A GREAT CAUSE.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU MALCOLM JENKINS'S
REASON FOR DOING IT.
HE SAYS --
>>THAT IS TRUE, BUT HE IS ACTUALLY UNDERPLAYING IT BECAUSE
IN FACT IT SHOULD HAVE TO DO WITH THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.
SOME OF YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN THIS, SOME OF YOU MIGHT NOT.
NORMALLY WE DON'T READ OR SING THE ENTIRE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
BEFORE THESE GAMES, WE LEAVE OUT THE THIRD VERSE.
WHY DO WE LEAVE
IT OUT?
BECAUSE IT SAYS THIS.
>>SO WHEN FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
WROTE LAND OF THE FREE, HE
DIDN'T MEAN BLACK PEOPLE.
HE MEANT WHITE PEOPLE, AND PART OF THEIR
FREEDOM WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SLAVES HAD TERROR IN THEIR
FLIGHT AND GLOOM IN THEIR GRAVE.
IF YOU ARE WONDERING WAS FRANCIS
SCOTT KEY A SLAVEOWNER, WHY YES HE WAS.
NOW LET'S GIVE YOU
CONTEXT, BECAUSE THIS WAS ABOUT THE WAR OF 1812, IT WASN'T THAT
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY JUST WROTE THE WHOLE THING ABOUT ISN'T THIS A
LOVELY COUNTRY, PLUS I HATE SLAVES -- I HATE BLACK PEOPLE
AND THAT'S WHY KEEP THEM AS SLAVES -- IT WAS IN THE CONTEXT
OF THE WAR OF 1812.
ALTHOUGH HE DOES THINK THAT, IN FACT I'LL
GIVE IT TO YOU NOW.
WHAT DOES FRANCIS SCOTT KEY THINK OF BLACK
PEOPLE?
HERE IS WHAT HE WROTE --
>>LET'S BE CLEAR THERE -- HE IS NOT SAYING SLAVERY IS THE
GREATEST EVIL, HE'S SAYING BLACK PEOPLE ARE THE GREATEST EVIL,
THAT'S WHY I HAVE TO KEEP THEM AS MY OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY.
AND
I'M SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR THAT?
AND BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY
ARE SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR THAT BANNER?
SO THE CONTEXT IS THE
WAR OF 1812.
NOW, I'M TAUGHT IN MY HIGH SCHOOL BACK WHEN I'M A
KID, THE GODDAMN BRITISH CAME IN, THEY BURNED THE WHITE HOUSE,
THEY TRIED TO RETAKE THE COUNTRY.
COME TO FIND OUT IT'S A
BIT MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.
SO DID THE BRITISH DO SOME
THINGS AGAINST US?
ABSOLUTELY, THEY HAD A WAR GOING ON WITH
FRANCE AT THE TIME, THEY BLOCKADED A LOT OF OUR SHIPS,
THEY BLOCKED OUR TRADE, AND ON TOP OF THAT THEY CAPTURED 10,000
OF OUR GUYS AND THEN THEY USED THEM IN THEIR OWN ARMY.
THAT'S
WHY WE WERE MAD, WE WERE RIGHT TO BE MAD.
THAT'S A GOOD REASON
FOR WAR I GUESS, IF THERE'S A GOOD REASON FOR WAR.
THAT WOULD
BE AMONG THEM.
BUT IT'S NOT LIKE WE WERE INNOCENT, WE WENT TO GO
CONQUER CANADA.
AND BY THE WAY, YOU KNOW WHAT WE SAID?
WE SAID
IT WOULD BE EASY BECAUSE WE WOULD BE GREETED AS LIBERATORS.
LITERALLY.
TURNS OUT WE WERE NOT GREETED AS LIBERATORS BY CANADA,
AND THEY FOUGHT US.
AND IT TURNS OUT WE GOT OUR ASS KICKED UP IN
CANADA.
READ YOUR HISTORY.
SO WE GO INTO CANADA, WE ARE
DISORGANIZED, AND MOST OF THE BRITISH TROOPS ARE FIGHTING THE
FRENCH BUT WE LOSE ANYWAY IN CANADA.
NOW, THE BRITISH ARE NOW
IN A CONFLICT WITH US SO THEY THINK, HERE IS A NUMBER OF
THINGS WE ARE GOING TO DO.
WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT THEM IN CANADA,
THEN IN THE WEST WE WANT TO GIVE THE NATIVE AMERICANS THEIR OWN
COUNTRY SO THE AMERICANS DO NOT ENCROACH FURTHER INTO THE WEST.
SO THEY ARE NOT DOING IT FOR THEIR HEALTH OR BECAUSE THEY ARE
ANGELS, THERE IS POLITICS INVOLVED.
BUT NONETHELESS, THEY
WERE FOR A NATIVE AMERICAN STATE AND THEY WERE FOR STOPPING US
FROM KILLING ALL THE NATIVE AMERICANS.
OKAY, INTERESTING.
NOW, HOW ABOUT THE SLAVES?
THE BRITISH, AGAIN FOR THEIR OWN
SELF-INTEREST, BUT REMEMBER THEY ALSO ENDED SLAVERY BEFORE WE
DID, AND ALSO I GUESS FOR MORALITY, BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER
WHY THEY DID IT, WHAT THEY DID WAS THE RIGHT THING NO MATTER
WHAT THE REASON.
THEY SAID LET'S GO AND LIBERATE THE SLAVES, AND
THEN YES, USE THEM AGAINST THE AMERICANS BECAUSE THEY MIGHT BE
A LITTLE BIT MOTIVATED TO FIGHT AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO HAD
ENSLAVED, KILLED, AND RAPED THEM.
FAIR ENOUGH POINT, RIGHT?
SO THEY GO TO DO THAT, IN FACT THEY DO DO THAT WITH A NUMBER OF
FORMER SLAVES AND THEY BECOME THE COLONIAL MARINES AND FIGHT
AGAINST US TOO.
SO FRANCIS SCOTT KEY WRITES THAT NOT BECAUSE HE'S
AGAINST RUNAWAY SLAVES ONLY, BUT BECAUSE HE SAYS THOSE SLAVES
SWITCHED OVER TO THE BRITISH SIDE AND THEY ARE FIGHTING US
AND WE WILL GIVE THEM TERROR AND SEND THEM TO THEIR GRAVES.
DOES
THAT MAKE IT BETTER?
NOT MUCH.
NOT MUCH AT ALL.
IF YOU WERE A
SLAVE, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?
IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING, HEY,
WE EVENTUALLY WON THE WAR OF 1812 -- OF COURSE IT'S NOT
BLACK-AND-WHITE, IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY.
WE LOST IN CANADA BUT
PREVENTED A NATIVE AMERICAN STATE, WE DID CONTINUE TO GO
SOUTH, EVENTUALLY GOT FLORIDA AND EVENTUALLY ALL THE WEST, AND
YES, WE DID A PEACE TREATY AND ENDED THE WAR, YES THEY BURNED
DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE, BUT WE WON IN BALTIMORE AND THAT IS WHEN
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY WROTE THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.
SO WHAT
HAPPENS TO THE SLAVES THE BRITISH HAD FREED?
WELL --
>>SO THAT'S THE REAL HISTORY OF THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, AND
NOT A PRETTY ONE.
SO YOU'LL EXCUSE PEOPLE IF THEY AREN'T
OVERLY INTO THE ETHIC ABOUT STANDING UP AND SALUTING THAT
HISTORY.
DOESN'T MEAN THAT AMERICA IS A BAD COUNTRY AND
WE'VE MADE A DECISION AND IT'S PURELY EVIL -- IT MEANS THAT
GOOD THINGS HAVE BEEN DONE BY AMERICA, VERY, VERY BAD THINGS
HAVE BEEN DONE BY AMERICA.
IT'S BOTH TRUE.
WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND
AND APPRECIATE THAT HISTORY AND WORK TOWARDS THE BETTER IDEALS.
AND LET'S REDO THE THINGS WE DID WELL, LIKE THE MARSHALL PLAN AND
ALL THE THINGS LIKE THE UNITED NATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS WE'VE
INSISTED ON ACROSS THE WORLD, BUT LET US NOT REMAKE THOSE SAME
MISTAKES, AND LET'S NOT CELEBRATE THE UGLY PART OF OUR
HISTORY.
I THINK THAT'S A FAIR REQUEST.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY,
LET'S FIX OUR OWN COUNTRY RIGHT NOW.