rockets, man

Like any other basic high schooler, I was at the football game this past Friday. The event began with the marching band playing the Star Spangled Banner, which reminded me of the Jimi Hendrix rendition we listened to during class. Although both performances performed the same song, Hendrix is seen as an protester at Woodstock while the football game is perceived as patriotic. While we all were listening to the same song, our perspectives were different. Woodstock was packed with “skinny hippie women, smoking a few joints, dropping acid, laughing when the rain fell (Alexie, 31)” Hippies were galvanized by artists like Hendrix, whose performance was a protest against war. He took the literal meaning of  “the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in air (Alexie, 26)” by distorting the piece to reflect the violence of war. In contrast to the doped up hippies of Woodstock, the football game’s crowd hopefully included a more sober audience of students, teachers and parents who came to support the athletes and marching band. The pre-game singing of the national anthem at sports events originated at the 1918 World Series while America was fighting in World War II. At that time, baseball games were a venue for America patriotism, and since then playing the national anthem became a ritual and spread to other sports as well. Today, the national anthem symbolizes the past and present struggles America overcame and faces. Although there are decades between the football game and Woodstock, there is a  recurrence of individuals who protest and call for reform. Hendrix’s performance back in 1969 is no different from kneeling during the anthem today. Looking at these internal problems in a new perspective will help America grow and become united. It’s not unpatriotic to call America out for its problems, but it's unpatriotic to sit and do nothing.