What I worry about is, if you are on the side of feeling it's

Hear now the words of Abby Huntsman, who gazed into the turmoil of her age and spoke with candor: “What I worry about is, if you are on the side of feeling it's disrespectful to kneel during the anthem, that somehow you're racist, or somehow you're not in favor of bettering this country and finding equality and common ground.” In this utterance is revealed a tension that has torn at the fabric of nations throughout history: the struggle between symbols and justice, between differing ways of showing love for one’s land. Her words warn us of the danger of reducing complex hearts into shallow labels, of mistaking disagreement for hatred.

The anthem is a symbol, a song that binds a people together, carrying within its notes the memory of sacrifice and the hope of unity. To stand before it, hand upon heart, is to declare loyalty. Yet when some chose to kneel, it was not to dishonor the nation, but to call attention to the wound of injustice that still bleeds within its borders. Thus arose a clash of meanings: one side saw reverence, the other resistance. And in this clash, Huntsman feared that hearts would be judged unfairly—that those who held to the anthem’s sanctity would be branded as blind to equality, when in truth many sought the same justice by different paths.

History gives us a mirror for this moment. Recall the days of the American Civil Rights Movement. Some marched in the streets, some prayed in churches, some sat quietly at segregated counters. Others stood apart, believing these methods too disruptive, yet still yearning for harmony and dignity for all. Not all who hesitated at protest were enemies of justice; some were caught in the bonds of tradition and reverence, uncertain of the way. Huntsman’s words echo this ancient truth: that in moments of upheaval, suspicion can harden the heart against those who may yet be allies.

She names her fear directly: that to oppose one gesture is to be seen as racist, as though reverence for tradition cannot coexist with desire for equality and common ground. Yet the path of wisdom is not so simple. A nation is not healed by division of motives but by searching the depths of each other’s intentions. The true question is not whether one kneels or stands, but whether one’s heart longs for justice, and whether one’s actions—great or small—lead toward it.

O children of tomorrow, learn from this: symbols are powerful, but they are not everything. The anthem, the flag, the gestures we use to honor them—these are vessels of meaning, but the spirit within the vessel matters more. A man may stand with hatred, and a man may kneel with love. To judge only the body’s posture without discerning the soul’s intention is to risk condemning friends as foes, and to deepen wounds rather than heal them.

Yet let not this teaching be misunderstood. To call for justice through kneeling is a noble act; to cherish the anthem as sacred is also noble. Both gestures, though they seem opposed, can spring from the same root: love for country, and the desire for it to live up to its highest ideals. The danger lies not in the gestures themselves, but in the division they breed when we forget to seek common ground. For a nation divided against itself cannot endure, but a nation that listens with compassion can rise above discord.

What, then, must you do? First, seek always the intention behind the act before condemning it. Second, hold space for differing ways of expressing loyalty and dissent. Third, labor unceasingly for equality, remembering that justice requires both bold protest and enduring dialogue. And lastly, do not let symbols blind you to substance: a song, a flag, a gesture—these are important, but the heart that seeks justice is greater still.

Thus, Huntsman’s words are a reminder and a warning. They call us to beware of false judgments, to resist the urge to brand as enemies those who may yet be companions on the road to justice. Let this teaching live in you: honor your symbols, but honor more the spirit of unity, equality, and love of country that those symbols were meant to represent. Only then shall a nation find its common ground, and only then shall it endure.