Country not the same

The president has weighed in on athletes and others who have refused to stand for the national anthem or salute the flag. I, too, no longer do either because this is not my country. I was born 75 years ago to a far different one.

In my East Coast small-town youth, there were two primary political parties, not angry tribes. People spoke graciously to each other, socialized, volunteered and stood together and passed the same hat when others suffered. Protestant kids, Catholic kids, Jewish kids, black kids, white kids all played Kick the Can, made yummy mud pies, and swam in the same ocean. And most of the time, no one had any idea what political parties their neighbors espoused, let alone the mayor, councilmen, police chief or judges. Only their characters mattered.

As we matured, our innocence eroded a bit when grainy newsreels showed

Nazis and cowards in white hoods raising straightarmed salutes or lighting the night with torches. Somehow we knew— even as children—that we were looking into the face of pure evil. Perhaps the world was losing a bit of its luster.

But there was a man in a big white house in Washington who understood the power of both actions and words. As we gathered around the radio, we heard him speak with humility, maturity and quiet wisdom. We listened as he articulated our national values of decency, honor, justice, compassion and hope.

That country is gone now. Until that country re-emerges, I will “take a knee.” LINDA A. FARRELL Bella Vista