Dear Editor,
It's a real shame that only once every two years does the world have an event that attempts to bring it together. And it is an even bigger shame that event, the Olympics, is based on competition, patriotism and personal pride rather than unity and equality.
Rich Lind, after your Monday letter to the editor, I am now the one who can bite my tongue no longer.
Why should we focus on patriotism and not competition? Is it so that even when the United States loses, we can continue to tout ourselves as the best at everything? Would it really be so hard for this country to enjoy the Olympics without comparing ourselves to everyone else? Do you know why everyone has been disappointed with the United States not doing well this year?
It's because the majority of U.S. citizens are so arrogant they don't want to consider themselves below any other country. It's because of patriotism. It's because we live in a country where we are raised to believe we are better than everyone else.
Your melodramatic description of the national anthem is ridiculous. Have you ever really listened to the national anthem? It isn't about attempting "to bridge the distance between races, religions and sexes." It is about war. Here is a list of words that can be found in Francis Scott Key's full version of the national anthem: rockets, bombs, dread, havoc, war, battle, blood, pollution, slave, terror, gloom, grave and desolation. And don't forget it was written in a time of slavery and well before women's suffrage.
Our national anthem is a tribute to "White America," not a bridge of unity. Mentalities like yours cause people to make the very complaints that you are arguing against.
Stop focusing on patriotism. Let's turn our attention to the coming together of so many nations to celebrate unity, rather than the politics that so often divide us. That, Lind, is what will bridge the distance between races, religions and the sexes.
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