"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

Our love of country and national identity must extend deeper than the symbols of the flag and anthem, than the politics of left and right, or "what church do you attend?" or socio-economic status. Our national heart and soul and all that we treasure most as Americans must genuinely be about freedom and equality for all who reside in our borders. We must be truly accepting of our beautiful diversity of cultures, lifestyles, and perspectives--especially when we disagree. We must be about caring and helping our fellow humans, regardless of how they arrived at their circumstances. Any less renders songs and flags and platitudes rather hollow.

Here's the thing: the U.S. Constitution (under the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights) guarantees each of us the right to decide if we stand or kneel. It does not give us the right to dictate to others whether they "must" or "should" stand or kneel. If we don't recognize that, if we don't protect that right for all perspectives--especially the ones with which we disagree--then our nation has much bigger problems than how people treat a song or a piece of fabric. Those items are lovely things, but they are symbols of the true beauty of America--the freedom and equality that are supposed to be afforded to everyone, no matter their gender, skin color, religion, politics, gender-identification, socio-economic status, ethnic origins, sexual-orientation, or geographic location. And sadly, in 2017, not everyone has complete freedom and equality--this is what the players are very successfully bringing attention to; and the fact that they have us all talking about it proves that their protest is meaningful. It's up to all of us to carry the ball from there. 

The protests have again brought to the forefront the fact that not everyone here is truly free...not when certain skin colors are systemically profiled, punished more harshly, and generally persecuted. Not when some genders, identities, and lifestyles are treated as second class. This bigotry is ingrained in our society. We must decide to care more about liberty for all people than what boxes people fit into. It's a tough, ugly national conversation, but it is one we must keep having and working through until we are truly the "land of the free".