ACCORDING TO THIS MORNING’S TV “NEWS,” THE Black National Anthem will be heard before each basketball and football game.
I may be simple, but for a national anthem to be played at a sporting event, the anthem
- * must have a nation
* one of the contestants (teams) must represent that nation.
America does it all the time when a Canadian team comes south. The Canadians likewise play the U.S. national anthem when a U.S. team plays north of the border. The U.S. also does this when (most) foreign dignitaries visit.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF “black” nations, or, more correctly, nations in which black people are the majority or in control.
- As a matter of fact, the U.S. acquired land1 for the American Colonization Society (ACS) that intended the land as a new home for freed black slaves. The land became the nation of Liberia.
There ARE a number of predominately black-populated states, mostly in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, commonly referred to as the “sub-Saharan Africa.” The term has been criticized by late Professor Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, on Pambazuka as being a racist word 2
For all that, blacks always have been a minority in the United States, ergo, the U.S., by definition, cannot be considered a “black nation” and the Black National Anthem is inappropriate at best and racist at worst.
U.S. absorbs, integrates people from around the world
The U.S. has successfully integrated peoples from many different countries with different ethno cultures, and different races. The Black National Anthem is just the opposite; it is intended to divide people.
The WORDS3 to the so-called Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, are linked from the Black Culture Collection web site, are exclusionary.
The words also are a bit confusing; the last stanza reads:
- May we forever stand.
True to our God,
True to our native land
If the Black National Anthem is referring to the U.S. as “our native land,” then why are so many blacks supporting organizations that want to destroy the U.S.?
If the Black National Anthem is referring to the lands from which their ancestors were abducted — by fellow blacks and sold to Muslim traders who eventually sold them to slavers — then perhaps another American Colonization Society is needed to help blacks return to their “native land.”
- Before anyone claims this is racist, consider that some countries provide relocation assistance to encourage people to settle there. Educated American blacks probably would be welcome in “black Africa” for their knowledge and abilities.
Some people, such as African American Dr. Obadele Kambon4 relocated to Ghana in 2008.
The Condé Nast Traveler web site 5 includes an article For Black Americans, Moving Abroad Has a Different Appeal that suggests blacks are able to relocate to a number of countries. Ghana, has an open invitation for Africa’s displaced descendants to visit “home.”
If Africa is not a person’s “cup of tea,” there are many other countries that welcome Americans.
I don’t know if it’s fair, but do other countries encourage and welcome uneducated blacks?
Do other nations offer less, the same as, or more opportunity than the U.S.?
(And if the U.S. is so bad, why do people clamor to cross the border and work towards citizenship? Illegals come to America because Americans employ them at sub-standard wages for jobs Americans deign to do.)
Not easy to sing but also not divisive
Granted, the U.S. National Anthem is hard to sing and, sometimes, painful to hear some artist interpretations. For all that, it IS the United States national anthem and it is the ONLY “national anthem” that should be played at an intra-country event, e.g., NY Yankees vs. The LA (nee New York) Giants, the Chicago Bears vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
I would vote to replace the U.S. National Anthem with something more “sing-able.” America the Beautiful is nice.
I used to love sports.
Now, when a game comes on the tube, I change channels or pick up a book.
I quit watching football when the players started “taking a knee” during the anthem.
Freedom of speech is one thing; disrespecting country and fellow citizens is another.
You want to protest, do it off the clock and off the field/court/diamond, whatever.
Playing the Black National Anthem, either before or after the U.S. National Anthem may make a few BLMers rejoice, but I suggest that it could turn a number of people into unwilling racists.
If a group is bullied long enough — and that is what Black Lives Matter is doing to anyone daring to disagree or even suggest that ALL lives matter — the bullied person/people eventually will have enough and respond in kind.
Black Lives DON’T Matter
It is patently obvious that Black Lives DO NOT Matter to the people behind BLM.
If black lives mattered, then the black-on-black murders — often of innocent children and seniors — would:
- Cease; drive-bys and casual shootings would be a thing of the past
The streets would be crowded with people protesting, albeit not destroying, black-on-black crime
There would be demands to support the police and fund additional police
Governors would be forced to “call out the Guard” to put down insurrection
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
If black lives mattered,, BLM leaders would tell their followers to obey the cops’ orders. It’s better to spend a night in jail than eternity in a grave. Besides, an illegally arrested person might sue the cops and the cop’s municipality for “Big Bucks.
Sources
1. Liberia: https://tinyurl.com/y23xcr2q
2. Sub-Sahara: https://tinyurl.com/d2cpeuf
3. Anthem words: https://tinyurl.com/yh2yr4tt
4. Dr. Kambon: https://tinyurl.com/y2w3ouax
5. Condé Nast:https://tinyurl.com/y43edrqh
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.
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