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SAN FRANCISCO -- The oldest Latino civil rights group in the United States opens every meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, a tradition resulting from a long fight to prove Hispanics belong in this country.In the San Francisco Bay Area, a white father of two says he would never require his young daughters to recite the pledge to show their patriotism.And in North Dakota, Native American protesters whose ancestors were here long before there was a United States waved American flags as they fought a proposed pipeline near sacred tribal land. Some demonstrators flew the flag upside down as a distress symbol.San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernicks refusal to stand during The Star-Spangled Banner in protest against racial oppression and police brutality has brought to light deep and sometimes surprising differences in the way Americans view the flag, the national anthem and the pledge.The symbols, people say, inspire skepticism and heartbreak, pride and joy, sometimes all at once in the same person. Some minorities, in particular, have conflicted feelings about symbols honoring a country that has not always treated all people equally.The flag is important to us because we have so many relatives in the military, said Justin Poor Bear, a 38-year-old member of the Oglala Lakota tribe from Allen, South Dakota. There is also a lot of pain.Following Kaepernicks example, pro athletes and high school students across the country are taking a knee or linking arms during the national anthem before sporting events.The protests have raised questions of who gets to be called a patriot.Jason Pontius, a 46-year-old white resident of Alameda, California, said the U.S. of all countries should realize that blind devotion is not the American way. Sometimes when he drops off his second-grader at school, he sticks around while she recites the Pledge of Allegiance with her class. But he doesnt join in.What makes America great, he said, is that people have always challenged the idea of what America stands for.Yet there are organizations that embrace the flag precisely as a way to declare that their members, too, are Americans.The League of United Latin American Citizens -- the nations oldest Latino civil rights group, founded in Texas by World War I veterans -- has historically opened all its meetings with the pledge and a prayer similar to one George Washington is said to have recited.Dennis W. Montoya, the leagues state director in New Mexico, said the groups emphasis on American pride is connected with a long fight by Latinos to prove they belong in this country.If someone doesnt stand for the pledge at one of our meetings, that person will probably be kicked out, Montoya said. Its disrespecting LULACs rituals and traditions.African-Americans have been moved to create symbols that better reflect their history.The national anthem, for example, was written by a slave owner and contains a painful reference to slavery in its little-known third stanza. The NAACP dubbed Lift Evry Voice and Sing the black national anthem in 1919.The hymn is a staple of African American singers and is so important that the clergy member who gave the benediction at President Barack Obamas 2009 inauguration opened with lines from the song.After Kaepernick started his protest in August, C.C. Washington of Waco, Texas, read all the stanzas of The Star-Spangled Banner, including the one that refers derisively to slaves who fought for the British in exchange for their freedom.The 65-year-old African-American retiree -- fresh off visiting the Statue of Liberty last week -- felt betrayed.All this time, Ive been posting on Facebook: Respect our flag, respect our national anthem. Now its totally different, she said, choking up. Ill stand out of respect for the people standing next to me, not because I believe it.Poor Bear said he started looking at the anthem differently after he took a group of Oglala Lakota students to a minor-league hockey game last year. A man yelled slurs and sprayed the children with beer, incensed that one of them did not stand for the national anthem, Poor Bear said. The student had been putting batteries into a camera.So I still stand for the national anthem, Poor Bear said. But I no longer put my hand over my heart.Linda Tamura, a retired professor of education in Portland, Oregon, has no personal objections to the anthem or the flag, even though her family was among tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans put in internment camps by the U.S. government during World War II.Her father volunteered for the military, along with her uncle and other Japanese-American men who felt it was their duty. When she looks at the Stars and Stripes, she says, she feels pride, instilled in part by her parents, who more than anything wanted us to believe in our country.At the same time, she salutes the growing protest movement and hopes it triggers broader discussions about how to improve relations.Thats why my father was in the military. Thats why were part of America. Thats why we believe in America, she said. Because we have the right to say what we believe.---Contreras reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. AP staff writer Deepti Hajela and stringer Rachelle Blidner contributed to this story from New York. Staff writers Errin Haines Whack contributed from Philadelphia; Jesse J. Holland and Noreen Nasir from Washington.---Follow Janie Har on Twitter at www.twitter.com/byjaniehar Cheap Wake Forest Demon Deacons Jerseys China . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. 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Rory McIlroy refused to let a last-hole bogey ruin some ideal preparation for the The Open as Masters champion Danny Willett suffered more frustration ahead of the seasons third major.McIlroy carded a superb 66 in testing conditions at Le Golf National to claim a share of the halfway lead in the French Open as Willetts last competitive appearance before Troon ended in a second consecutive missed cut.Six birdies in the first 14 holes had taken McIlroy into the outright lead in his first event since missing the cut in the U.S. Open, only for the 27-year-old to drive into the water on the 18th for the second day running.The resulting bogey left the world No.4 in a five-way tie for the lead on five under par alongside Mikko Ilonen, Brandon Stone, Thongchai Jaidee and Wang Jeunghun, who won back-to-back titles in Morocco and Mauritius earlier this year.Its a really good days work, said McIlroy, who revealed after his opening 71 that he had whittled 17 swing thoughts down to about five as he worked on eradicating some bad habits from his game.I cant let a bit of a disappointing finish taint a really good day. I felt for the most part I controlled my ball well and holed some good putts. Even the ones that didnt go in looked like they were going to and Im in a great position going into the weekend.Its a work in progress and it doesnt feel very natural at the minute, its quite mechanical and I am concentrating a lot but if I set up well it tends to go where I want it to.McIlroy, who was unable to defend his Open title in 2015 after suffering an ankle injury while playing football with friends, added: Its ideal preparation for the Open, especially with the little breeze we have had as well.Its great preparation to have my last two competitive rounds before the Open in contention in tricky conditions. I cant really ask for much more than that.In contrast, Willett had earlier onnly been able to add a second round of 72 to his opening 75 to finish five over par and continue a disappointing run of form.ddddddddddddThe world No.9 finished third in the BMW PGA Championship at the end of May, but smashed the putter he used at Augusta in frustration during the U.S. Open and missed the cut in the BMW International Open in Germany last week.The last three weeks weve putted as bad as we ever have and things havent quite gone our way, Willett, 28, said. When you keep shooting the worst score you can its a tricky game.Just not done anything very well really. Missed a lot of putts, couple of bad shots that cost us and just one of those days again. S--- couple of weeks. Its fine margins and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of them.The last time Willett missed two cuts in a row was coincidentally in the U.S. Open and French Open last year, but he then bounced back to finish sixth in the Open at St Andrews a fortnight later.Defending champion Bernd Wiesberger had held a four-shot lead when he reached nine under par thanks to five birdies in his first eight holes, but then ran up a triple bogey on the treacherous 18th and also dropped shots on his last two holes.That left the Austrian a shot off the pace alongside Nicolas Colsaerts and Anders Hansen, the 45-year-old Dane who announced his retirement at the end of last season.I just came out to play four events, Hansen explained after a flawless 68. I need to play five to keep my status [as a European Tour member] and this week counts for two, so thats perfect.I never expected this and when I came down 15 and saw my name on the leaderboard I was laughing a bit. I thought This is just stupid. Maybe Im just more relaxed about the whole thing because it doesnt really matter. ' ' '