The Star-Spangled Banner is the latest victim of the Left’s movement to rid us of every historical or patriotic landmark and symbol of our nation. California and Hawaii NAACP president Alice Huffman feels our nation’s anthem is racist and should be abolished and replaced with something more inclusive.
Huffman made the statement at a recent NAACP state convention where she also suggested two “resolutions to support Colin Kaepernick and to censure President Donald Trump after he used profanity toward NFL players who knelt during the anthem.”
The proposal is not intended to disrespect the flag, Huffman said. “We’re not trying to protest the flag at all. We’re protesting this racist song that has caused so much controversy in America, and we’re just trying to get it removed. So, whatever comes out in the future as a national anthem, we can all stand proudly and sing it.”
Huffman is referring to the third stanza in the Francis Scott Key piece, which few people even know – much less sing.
“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 washed out their foul footsteps’ 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.”
How many of us have actually heard this verse sung in public? How many people even know the words? Yet Huffman would have the entire anthem tossed aside like yesterday’s garbage. What would the new anthem be, and who would be the ones to make the decision? How do you choose an all-inclusive song to represent our country? Someone somewhere will be offended.
Master Sgt. Ryan Peterson, an Air Force veteran, said the anthem is special to him: “It’s (a) significantly deeper meaning to an Air Force member, to a veteran, to a veteran in our community, than the perceived disrespect or the perceived racism of the third stanza.”
Everyone wants to jump on the popularity bandwagon without taking the time to consider their actions. Just because a few NFL players decided to kneel during our anthem does not mean it is racist and should be tossed aside. Besides, wasn’t Kaepernick’s initial kneeling in protest to police brutality, not the song itself? To the majority of us, the flag and anthem are sacred symbols of our nation, its people, and our history. It represents all that we’ve been, all that we’ve struggled through, and all that we will become in the future.
First our flag, then our statues and monuments, and now our anthem – what’s next? Will the bald eagle find its neck on the chopping block for the oppressively white feathers atop its head?
