Re; Gwen Berry protest against the anthem.

Last week, Gwen Berry finished third in a U.S. Olympic trials event and turned away in protest as the national anthem was played.

In explaining her behavior, she said, “If you know your history, you’d know the full song of the national anthem. The third paragraph speaks to slaves in America — our blood . . . All over the floor. It’s disrespectful, and it does not speak for black Americans.”

Wherever you come out on this issue, I will confess it forced me to learn more about “The Star-Spangled Banner” (which was adopted as the national anthem only in 1931).

Its third verse does indeed make harsh reference to enslaved people who dared to try to escape their captivity, and the person who wrote it, Francis Scott Key, was a nasty racist.

Some Americans care about history because the stakes are high.