It’s right to kneel in prayer for this country
President Trump is demanding that the NFL players should stand for the national anthem.
He feels that their kneeling is being disrespectful and unpatriotic. The last phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance says “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
However, people of color have not always experienced that sense of liberty and justice for all. We are witnessing a president who has his own proclivity to racial equality by his delayed response during the march in Charlottesville that claimed a senseless death and massive injuries to others.
His unfiltered and crude comments made when he traveled to Puerto Rico confirms his mindset of inequality. This presidency has created a division that seems to be spreading at an alarming rate. Oxford's Dictionary defines kneeling as a position by dropping to the knees as when praying or submission.
The way I see all of this unrest is that we kneel in memory for those lives not equally honored. We pray for the senseless killings such as Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, the church where nine lives where taken during Bible Study and Charlottesville to name a few of many.
But more importantly, we kneel in prayer for this country.
Andrea L. Daw, Fresno
This story was originally published October 22, 2017 at 10:36 AM with the headline "It’s right to kneel in prayer for this country."