In an increasingly antiracist era when problematic iconography — ranging from Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben to even the Dukes of Hazzard General Lee car and country band Lady Antebellum’s name — is being reassessed, revised or retired, America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” seems to be striking a wrong note.
Last week, protesters in San Francisco toppled a statue of the song’s composer, Francis Scott Key, a known slaveholder who once said that African Americans were “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.” This week, Liana Morales, an Afro-Latinx student at New York’s Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts, refused to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at her virtual graduation ceremony, explaining to the Wall Street Journal, “With everything that’s happening, if I stand there and sing it, I’m being complicit to a system that has oppressed people of color.” Instead, Morales performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn widely considered to be the “Black national anthem.”
So, is it time for this country to dispense with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and adopt a new anthem with a less troubling history and a more inclusive message? Historian and scholar Daniel E. Walker, the author of No More, No More: Slavery and Cultural Resistance in Havana and New Orleans and producer of the documentary How Sweet the Sound: Gospel in Los Angeles, says yes.
“The 53-year-old in me says, we can't change things that have existed forever. But then there are these young people who say that America needs to live up to its real creed,” Walker tells Yahoo Entertainment. “And so, I do side with the people who say that we should rethink this as the national anthem, because this is about the deep-seated legacy of slavery and white supremacy in America, where we do things over and over and over again that are a slap in the face of people of color and women. We do it first because we knew what we were doing and we wanted to be sexist and racist. And now we do it under the guise of ‘legacy.’”
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How about we purge the left before they ruin our country and LIVES,instead?
....and so it starts. All it takes is one person with some standing to voice their persional thought.... this thread is picked up by the MSM and pushed because it will cause strife and discontentment. No matter how small an issue, there are always those who will get on the bandwagon. Soon, that small snowflake has gathered enough "other" snowflakes until it becomes a landslide (avalance), it will continually be pushed by the MSM until it has infected the whole country. Others of some statue will hop on that bandwagon to further inhance their "name" as standing up for the right of others, even though there is no right, just the personal opinion of one little snow flake. Like throwing a match on the side of the road. Not all matches start a forrest fire but, if there is some dry tender, it will take off. There are enough "snowflakes" that want there day to shine that they will drop onto any bandwagon or fire or avalance to get their day in the limelight, no matter the cause. The MSM media (leftist) is in fact the wind in the sails of malcontentment. Push a narrative to sell their 'paper' and fill their positions of money and power. I don't have an answer, well, I have one but it can not be published. America needs to find a backbone. History is history, you learn from it and go forward, not to rewrite history but to remember history and not make the same mistakes. To bad the liberals can not understand that, basically, snowflakes.
The BLM movement is all about symbols and faux issues, not about meningful reform. We went through all of this 3 years ago, nothing substantive changed; we're going through it again, and nothing substantive will change. Why? Because the power to change rests in the Democrat Party which throughout its history has resisted anything which would improve the condition of black Americans. They were the party of King Cotton; they were the party that created the Klan and White Citizens Councils; they were the party that created and maintained Jim Crow; they were the party that voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1963. Their partisans say it is not the same Democrat Party today, but it is because this Democrat Party maintains policies that continue to keep black people in their majority at the bottom of the ladder. Demorats have the power to change city policies; quick now, name the last Republican governor of New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania. Name the last Republican mayor of New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco or Los Angeles. Having trouble? I'm not surprised. The Democrats have long been in position to make changes in police tactics, etc., but they have not done so. As Charles Barkley said, "black people have been votiing Democrat for 50 years and they are still poor." Democrats will keep their black voting base on the plantation as long as possible. And nothing will change.
I agree with you but we have to call it like it is BLM is a hate group, just like Antifa, bottom line thanks to Obama he made it possible for those group to be where they are today.
In 1812 During the battle of Baltimore the US was being invaded by the British navy. Our brave forces fought all through the night, and as Francis Scott Key watched the fighting from a distance, not knowing if we would prevail, he was inspired to write the song. As morning came, he saw our significant flag flying over the fort, Fort McHenry! The song was written with joy and love for this country!
we should NOT give up our flag nor our song! And those who are tearing down and destroying should be arrested AND NOT RELEASED!
The nasty protestors Are Communist! , They have chosen to go against our country, have chosen to hate it, And should no longer be welcome in our country❗️it is historical that when Communists take over a country they brutally proceed to wipe out anything historical and good of the one they are overtaking! Future generations will grow up knowing nothing positive of their history and therefore no desire to return to it.
I DO NOT UBDERSTAND WHY our authorities are NOT PUTTING DOWN THIS INSURRECTION, This is a time when our military should be called up to protect us from the enemy forces ❗️
Prison is a good option! Or, offer to each one a choice - prison or a paid for one way ticket to a Communist country of their choice, with the knowledge that they will NOT be welcomed back. Citizenship must be given up and they leave forever.
And good riddance to bad company!
The left is pushing all the wrong buttons... if they think for one moment that our patience is eternal and that the Patriot will not take action to keep our national emblems, anthem, flag, statutes, and monuments from further desecration they are making a very big mistake.
We were warned when the communist party was outlawed and many of its members convicted and even executed for treason.
Then they not only were allowed but infiltrated the democrat party with the aid of progressive universities. Then they became candidates in elections and teachers offered socialist propagnda to our grammar and high school studends. So, what else did we expect to be the outcome when even the parents gave up their patriotic responsibilities?
The Communist Party has not been outlawed, nor have many of its members been convicted and executed for treason. The only people I know of executed for treason were the Rosenbergs. Congress tried various laws to outlaw the CP, but none were ever enforced. Let's stick to the facts. Left wing infiltration of the Democrats and our schools and universities was a long-term plan by the left, including the CP, but not because the CP ws outlawed. Rather because the CP was and is free to expand its sphere of influence with progressive cover.
Liana Morales, why dont you move to another country if you dont like it here. Men and women of all races and creeds fought and died for yiur right to talk like this. You should be ashamed. Sure we are ashamed of some of the wrongs we have done. God commands us to forgive. So we should forgive and never let those things happen again. Don't harbor bitterness in your heart as you do. It will consume you.
these poop heads could not come up with a better song!
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