Agent Zero
09-26-2017, 05:17 PM
Interesting...I had no idea. Perhaps we shouldn't even use it as our "anthem". Maybe that Lee Greenwood song would be a better choice?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/sport/colin-kaepernick-flag-protest-has-history-trnd/index.html
Whether these players know it, and whether they kneel with the fact in mind, the connection between race and the national anthem has a painful yet little-known root.
The national anthem's forgotten lyrics
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 about the American victory at the Battle of Fort McHenry. We only sing the first verse, but Key penned three more. This is the third verse:
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170814081006-michael-bennett-sits-medium-plus-169.jpg
[/URL]
NFL stars sit during national anthem 01:04
The mere mention of "slave" is not entirely remarkable; slavery was alive and well in the United States in 1814. Key himself owned slaves, was an anti-abolitionist and once called his African brethren "[URL="https://books.google.com/books?id=xVRQ8NsrP5MC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=%E2%80%9Ca+distinct+and+inferior+race+of+people ,+which+all+experience+proves+to+be+the+greatest+e vil+that+afflicts+a+community.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=akAa-MkOnE&sig=gl287IEmrxDd7QhWzDZ1vndULAY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7-4HtktDNAhXG7YMKHbKMDCEQ6AEIJjAB#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ca%20distinct%20and%20inferior%20race%20 of%20people%2C%20which%20all%20experience%20proves %20to%20be%20the%20greatest%20evil%20that%20afflic ts%20a%20community.%E2%80%9D&f=false"]a distinct and inferior race of people (http://www.cnn.com/videos)."
Some interpretations (http://harpers.org/archive/2014/09/washington-is-burning/) of these lyrics contend Key was, in fact, taking pleasure (https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-is-righter-than-you-know-the-national-anthem-is-a-celebration-of-slavery/) in the deaths of freed black slaves who had fought with the British against the United States.
In order to bolster their numbers, British forces offered slaves freedom (http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/black-soldier-and-sailors-war/) in British territories in return for joining their cause. These black recruits formed the Colonial Marines and were looked down upon by people like Key, who saw their actions as treasonous (https://vimeo.com/166881889).
As an anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has never been a unanimous fit. Since it was officially designated as the national anthem in 1931, Americans have debated the suitability (http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124012&page=1) of its militaristic lyrics and difficult tune. (Some have offered up "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" as alternatives.)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/sport/colin-kaepernick-flag-protest-has-history-trnd/index.html
Whether these players know it, and whether they kneel with the fact in mind, the connection between race and the national anthem has a painful yet little-known root.
The national anthem's forgotten lyrics
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 about the American victory at the Battle of Fort McHenry. We only sing the first verse, but Key penned three more. This is the third verse:
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170814081006-michael-bennett-sits-medium-plus-169.jpg
[/URL]
NFL stars sit during national anthem 01:04
The mere mention of "slave" is not entirely remarkable; slavery was alive and well in the United States in 1814. Key himself owned slaves, was an anti-abolitionist and once called his African brethren "[URL="https://books.google.com/books?id=xVRQ8NsrP5MC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=%E2%80%9Ca+distinct+and+inferior+race+of+people ,+which+all+experience+proves+to+be+the+greatest+e vil+that+afflicts+a+community.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=akAa-MkOnE&sig=gl287IEmrxDd7QhWzDZ1vndULAY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7-4HtktDNAhXG7YMKHbKMDCEQ6AEIJjAB#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ca%20distinct%20and%20inferior%20race%20 of%20people%2C%20which%20all%20experience%20proves %20to%20be%20the%20greatest%20evil%20that%20afflic ts%20a%20community.%E2%80%9D&f=false"]a distinct and inferior race of people (http://www.cnn.com/videos)."
Some interpretations (http://harpers.org/archive/2014/09/washington-is-burning/) of these lyrics contend Key was, in fact, taking pleasure (https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-is-righter-than-you-know-the-national-anthem-is-a-celebration-of-slavery/) in the deaths of freed black slaves who had fought with the British against the United States.
In order to bolster their numbers, British forces offered slaves freedom (http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/black-soldier-and-sailors-war/) in British territories in return for joining their cause. These black recruits formed the Colonial Marines and were looked down upon by people like Key, who saw their actions as treasonous (https://vimeo.com/166881889).
As an anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has never been a unanimous fit. Since it was officially designated as the national anthem in 1931, Americans have debated the suitability (http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124012&page=1) of its militaristic lyrics and difficult tune. (Some have offered up "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" as alternatives.)