The Star-Spangled Banner is the official national anthem for the United States of America and has been for a long time. Written by Francis Scott Key, you can hear his war story about American perseverance that led to victory. This anthem is very glorious, and many American citizens feel uplifted when hearing the song performed. It also gives off a feeling of patriotism to many. However, did you know that what you usually hear before NBA games and the Superbowl is only a portion of the four existing stanzas? I was aware of this, but I did not always know what the other stanzas held in content. Most people don’t even know about them in general. Sadly, if you take a look at the third stanza, it is racially motivated. It speaks down on slaves and condemns those that joined British army in exchange for their freedom. This verse celebrates their deaths. This verse is so unbelievably hypocritical! For a song that celebrates independence, and for a country that had just won its independence not too long before, they surely were trying to keep the slaves away from a fundamental American belief. For the United States to feel any sort of way towards those slaves that fought for their freedom is just hypocritical and awful! Can you really blame those who did? They were living under the worse living conditions possible here, being forced to do unpaid labor, day in and day out. The slaves were also subjected to other awful conditions as well as beatings, murder, rape, and more. I think anybody in their right mind would fight for the British army in exchange for their freedom in this situation. As for today, the meaning behind the Star-Spangled banner should most definitely be addressed. The fact that it isn’t basically shows that the Unite States really does not do what is best for its black citizens.
This can be related to the controversy over NFL players taking a knee during the pre-game performance of the anthem. While players stated many times that they were not in protest of the flag, people still seem to criticize their utilization of their rights to a peaceful protest. I support the kneeling because it is in protest to the injustices that Black Americans still face to this day. I support this kneeling, while having many family members who served this country!
I feel like the blog post was written extremely well. I agree that it's crazy that most people don't know the rest of our national anthem and should have a better education on the topic.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people should know more about the rest of the song. In my school, I was taught about "The Star Spangled Banner", "America the Beautiful", and other American folk songs.
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