Ray Cook. Photo from Twitter
Professional football player Colin Kaepernick landed in the news recently for refusing to stand for the national anthem out of protest of the mistreatment of people of color. For Ray Cook (St. Regis Mohawk), the opinions editor at Indian Country Today, the protest struck close to home:
In my country, before anything important happens, we sit while grateful and holy words are said to give thanks for what the Creator and Earth provided for us. That is our Pledge of Allegiance. No one had to stand up or cover their hearts with hat or hand. It’s about the words, and your understanding of them that is sacred. One day, my dad and mom decided to take my sister and I to an Orioles game. At this gathering, unlike the one at school, they sang a song before the game. I later learned it was the American national anthem. This song was not like our thanksgiving songs. Everyone in the stadium stood up, hats off and hands over hearts, and lots of singing of words. Weird. (It was about 20 years later that I learned all the four verses of that song the Americans worshiped.) Then my Dad threw us a curve ball. He refused to stand up with the rest of the people. My family were the only people that did not stand. And, no one bothered us. It was like they knew we were Native and had a right to question the American paradigm.Read More:
Ray Cook: Colin Kaepernick Takes a Knee (Indian Country Today 11/1)
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