Why they kneel.

As I offer this theory, I need to qualify myself. I have never lived in the United States as a black man.  One black gentleman around my age has described 7 police stops in 6 months while driving his one year old Lexus. I can't wrap my mind around that. I have never felt that I could land in jail or worse from a traffic stop.

I have never lived in an urban area. I have never served as a police officer. I have never held the fear that my next interaction with a sketchy character could be my last. So any theory I offer is arising from a lack of actual experience and from observation only.

From Colin Kaepernick on I have been perplexed with kneeling for the anthem. The national anthem, of course, is a song about the flag of the United States of America, rather than about our country itself. It was written in the ebbing flames of a battle during the revolutionary war when the flag still flying would be a sign of victory. The first verse ends with a question, "Oh say, does that star spangled banner yet wave, Oe'r the land of the free and the home of the brave." If the flag is still waving over us, we are still free from Great Britain or anyone else, because this is where the brave defenders of our flag and freedom live.

We rise out of respect for the flag. In fact, I was taught to focus on the second star, since my home state, Pennsylvania, joined the union second, just behind Deleware. We place our right hands over our hearts to honor the flag.

So why kneel? Turning away from the flag and showing it my back would easily be understood as a total rejection of the anthem's claims of freedom and bravery. Refusing to stand and sitting through the anthem would have shown unconcern for the flag and all it represents. Kneeling first says, "I can't stand for the anthem's description of our country as 'the land of the free and the home of the brave.'" Kneeling also says, "I kneel out of respect for those ideals as the ones that count."

Kneeling is also a position of respect. We kneel in prayer to acknowledge God's greatness compared to me. We kneel in a huddle to get everyone's attention and focus to explain what the team needs to do next. We kneel after catching a punt of kickoff to signal we are not going to run. Kneeling is a signal to get attention.

Now I am crossing way out of my life experience. Kneeling during the anthem is a signal that the person doesn't see the United States as the land of the free, not everyone who lives here is free. Kneeling during the anthem is a signal that the kneeler doesn't see the United States as the home of the brave, because many key decisions in this country are made from fear.

Are the kneelers right? They have our attention. Will we look beyond our experience to see?