In recent months, the National Anthem has come under fire for its perceived racial overtones. Now the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is calling for Congress to remove the “Star Spangled Banner” as our National Anthem, something I believe cannot happen.
The “Star Spangled Banner” has long been a symbol of National patriotism, unification, and the freedom men and women have fought and died for centuries, not a song that disenfranchises part of our country’s population.
Protests against the National Anthem, and U.S. flag, are not new. While protests have occurred since the beginning of our country’s founding, demonstrations sparked again after Colin Kaepernick first chose not to stand for the playing of the National Anthem before NFL games in 2016.
These protests, and their national outrage, sparked NFL boycotts, a string of tweets from President Trump condemning player’s rights to peaceful demonstration, and even more division created between the right and left, which could potentially keep building with this new movement to ban the “Star Spangled Banner,” an anthem that has been used to unite our country in patriotism and not encourage division. As a military supporter and someone who would like to fight for my country’s freedom within the next five years, the fact some believe they have the right to disown the flag, and Anthem, the very symbols that afford them the right of protest is mind boggling.
In 1931 the “Star Spangled Banner” was adopted as our National Anthem by President Herbert Hoover. It has been an integral part of the everyday American’s life for the past 86 years, a song that unites our country in patriotism. If banned, I think we would lose an important part of our culture and American identity.
Between 2004 and 2007, when major U.S. Military Operations were going on, 40% of all U.S. deaths resulted from war related injuries. 40% of all the deaths in the U.S. caused because those brave men and women decided to risk their lives defending our flag and Anthem and the freedoms they afford the average American.
The California NAACP passed a resolution at its state conference in October to urge Congress to remove the “Star Spangled Banner” as our National Anthem because it is “the most racist, pro-slavery, anti-black songs in the American lexicon” and replace it with a song that does not “disenfranchise part of the American population.”
What makes the “Star Spangled Banner” the most “racist” song in America? According to the NAACP, three simple words in the third verse, a verse rarely sung or even known by the whole of the American public. These words read, “Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave; From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”
According to a group of historians, these lines celebrate the deaths of black slaves who fought for the British during the War of 1812 and died. Francis Scott Key, who penned the poem, was himself a slave owner who actively advocated for free blacks to be shipped out of America and back to Africa and stated that blacks were an inferior race of people.
Nothing can excuse his actions or beliefs, however if put in context of the times, Scott Key wrote what could be expected. Slavery was part of American culture in the 1800s, and Scott Key is not the only prominent historical figure to have owned and wrote about slavery. The flag, and our freedoms, serve as a symbol of righting the faults of men like Key so we can finally unite.
I believe the accomplishments and faults of our forefathers are not diminished because of this stance they held, just as the importance of the “Star Spangled Banner” cannot be diminished because of three lines in a verse no one is aware exists.
But, the essence of the “Star Spangled Banner” does not celebrate slavery or paint it as something positive. The Anthem is not known for being pro-slavery, pro-white, or pro-racial struggle. The Anthem is pro-America, pro-freedom, and pro-unity. It celebrates our Nation, how great it is and pays tribute to the hundreds of thousands who have given their life for our safety and protection, serving beneath our flag and National Anthem.
As divisive a time it is in our country, the “Star Spangled Banner” and its ill-known lyrics are the least of the worries of which we should be focused. The song is a unifying force in our increasingly divided country, and if lawmakers were to remove it as our National Anthem, I do not feel as if any real change or good would come out of it.
The song itself is not the root of American upheaval, it is the actions of citizens. A song alone, with its many words, is not to blame, it is our country. We need to work towards real social change and re-evaluate how we are living, and what we are living for in our country. Banning our unifying and patriotic anthem is not the answer, taking time to discuss and understand the feelings of those on either side in order to work towards important change is.
Image Courtesy of Wikipedia