All you have to do is read the entirety of the Star Spangled Banner to know it's not for Black Americans as Key castigates and promises retribution to any Black slave who fought for the British in exchange for their freedom in the third verse of the song. In Key's mind, Black people and their children and children's children were supposed to be content to be white people's property forever.
I don't know why I am surprised when I learn new things about the depths of racism in this country, its roots are truly pernicious, deep and pervasive.
Considering the amount of profit the NFL makes it is the very least they can do to have this song sung.
Adjacently: I predict sometime in the future children will no longer play football after it is determined to be child abuse due to CTE risks.
That was completely enlightening and well written. I certainly didn’t know any of that history, and I can’t wait until I get to a proper computer so I can tell my friends. Thank you!
I learned about this song from a Netflix comedy special (Amanda Seales... I think) and I have loved it ever since. Such a beautiful and important song!
Had never actually heard the Black National Anthem before. Guess I don’t watch enough TV. Andra Day was fantastic. I think it should be sung every you sing the other one. Personally, I don’t like the perfectly unsingable (except for trained singers) song by Francis Scott Key. He should have stuck to lawyering.
I visited Fort McHenry years ago were I learned about the subsequent verse which sealed my mind that we need a song that doesn’t represent war, white slave owners, etc. Still don’t know what sporting events has to do with singing this song.
No one has asked me but I would prefer songs with less religious references that’s fun to sing.
You know, the right wingers convinced me--we really should have one national anthem that everyone sings or stands up for. So why not make it this one? Seems the lyrics are broadly applicable, and there's no reason we cannot all adopt an anthem that was created by black Americans and initially adopted by black Americans.
The current anthem isn't very good, and certainly doesn't reflect the values we'd want to teach to children--first, it's a poem put to music, so it's not particularly melodic, second, it's an homage to a battle in a war that no serious person disputes was a complete mistake for us to have been in (and led to the sacking of our capital, and could have resulted in a massive loss of territory). So conservatives have made a good argument--get rid of the current one, make the black anthem the new national anthem. You're welcome!
I think I have figured out the criteria for Trump™'s running mate. They have to be able to go to the Super Bowl with their spouse and stand up and walk out when this song is sung.
I love that song and am always one of the only white people in a room/event who sings along when it's played. My sixth grade teacher, a Black woman whose approach to Blackness was that if her Black students had to learn about white-dominant culture, then her white students could damn well learn about Black worlds and cultures too, taught it to the class and we sang it every Friday morning after the Pledge of Allegiance. I was in college before I found out that this was not standard practice in American grammar schools.
So mine was not the only school with this practice? I’m glad to hear it.
We also learned songs like “Follow the Drinking Gourd” and “Wade in the Water,” along with their context in music class. No one died of white fragility.
I didn’t watch the pregame show and just learned about this latest manufactured outage. I did know the story behind the song and the brothers who wrote it. It’s a beautiful song and more than worthy of being our anthem.
For Sure If you Read the Total lines in the Star Bangled Banner you’ll See How horrendous it really is toward Slavery!
Stanza 4 is the one that glorifies slavery the most, if I remember correctly.
All you have to do is read the entirety of the Star Spangled Banner to know it's not for Black Americans as Key castigates and promises retribution to any Black slave who fought for the British in exchange for their freedom in the third verse of the song. In Key's mind, Black people and their children and children's children were supposed to be content to be white people's property forever.
Stanza 4 is the one that glorifies slavery the most, if I remember correctly.
I don't know why I am surprised when I learn new things about the depths of racism in this country, its roots are truly pernicious, deep and pervasive.
Considering the amount of profit the NFL makes it is the very least they can do to have this song sung.
Adjacently: I predict sometime in the future children will no longer play football after it is determined to be child abuse due to CTE risks.
That was completely enlightening and well written. I certainly didn’t know any of that history, and I can’t wait until I get to a proper computer so I can tell my friends. Thank you!
Thank you for the history and context. 🇺🇸
I guess the real problem is you didn’t play your national anthem.
What a lovely performance.❤️🎶
I learned about this song from a Netflix comedy special (Amanda Seales... I think) and I have loved it ever since. Such a beautiful and important song!
Had never actually heard the Black National Anthem before. Guess I don’t watch enough TV. Andra Day was fantastic. I think it should be sung every you sing the other one. Personally, I don’t like the perfectly unsingable (except for trained singers) song by Francis Scott Key. He should have stuck to lawyering.
I visited Fort McHenry years ago were I learned about the subsequent verse which sealed my mind that we need a song that doesn’t represent war, white slave owners, etc. Still don’t know what sporting events has to do with singing this song.
No one has asked me but I would prefer songs with less religious references that’s fun to sing.
You know, the right wingers convinced me--we really should have one national anthem that everyone sings or stands up for. So why not make it this one? Seems the lyrics are broadly applicable, and there's no reason we cannot all adopt an anthem that was created by black Americans and initially adopted by black Americans.
The current anthem isn't very good, and certainly doesn't reflect the values we'd want to teach to children--first, it's a poem put to music, so it's not particularly melodic, second, it's an homage to a battle in a war that no serious person disputes was a complete mistake for us to have been in (and led to the sacking of our capital, and could have resulted in a massive loss of territory). So conservatives have made a good argument--get rid of the current one, make the black anthem the new national anthem. You're welcome!
Well done!
I think I have figured out the criteria for Trump™'s running mate. They have to be able to go to the Super Bowl with their spouse and stand up and walk out when this song is sung.
Honestly I wish they’d quit singing America the Beautiful. It’s insipid.
It should be replaced by Woody Guthrie's ''This Land Is Our Land". Woody's guitar kiled fascsists
I love that song and am always one of the only white people in a room/event who sings along when it's played. My sixth grade teacher, a Black woman whose approach to Blackness was that if her Black students had to learn about white-dominant culture, then her white students could damn well learn about Black worlds and cultures too, taught it to the class and we sang it every Friday morning after the Pledge of Allegiance. I was in college before I found out that this was not standard practice in American grammar schools.
So mine was not the only school with this practice? I’m glad to hear it.
We also learned songs like “Follow the Drinking Gourd” and “Wade in the Water,” along with their context in music class. No one died of white fragility.
I didn’t watch the pregame show and just learned about this latest manufactured outage. I did know the story behind the song and the brothers who wrote it. It’s a beautiful song and more than worthy of being our anthem.
I agree that hey should not have played the Black National Anthem before the regular National Anthem.
They should have played it INSTEAD of the regular National Anthem!