NFL to play black National Anthem prior to Star Spangled banner

[njbuff]

 

[boater]

Surprised this hasn't been closed yet.

[Thurman Kelly]

If you've never heard of a "black national anthem" before this week (like I haven't), that's a pretty good indication that there is no such thing.

[Putin]

On 7/2/2020 at 6:49 PM, JerseyBills said:

I see alot of comments very upset and saying they're done with the NFL. Is this further dividing things? 

I personally don't have a big issue with it but I don't like politics in my sports.

Thoughts?

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/-nfl-to-play-black-national-anthem-before-the-star-spangled-banner-at-week-1-games-211305337.html

So we have one Anthem for black people and the old Anthem for everyone else ? 
Great idea to get this country united !! 

 

[krf139]

5 hours ago, Eddiegoofball said:

I'm so tired of this rationale. The Star Spangled banner was written in 1814 to celebrate the valor and courage of white men because women weren't allowed to fight or vote back then, black folks were slaves and most of the other colors in between who helped lay the groundwork of the melting pot that is America hadn't arrived yet. While it's expected to be a song for all Americans, it was not written from that perspective. It was written by a slave owner. Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing, the black national anthem was written in the early 1900's in the midst of Jim Crow times. It's not like it was written last week or anything. What is so threatening about equality?

Bottom line is saying something is “black” is racist. We are one America with one national anthem. I’m sick of the pandering 

5 minutes ago, Putin said:

So we have one Anthem for black people and the old Anthem for everyone else ? 
Great idea to get this country united !! 

 

They don’t want unity - that’s the problem 

[Putin]

3 minutes ago, krf139 said:

Bottom line is saying something is “black” is racist. We are one America with one national anthem. I’m sick of the pandering 

They don’t want unity - that’s the problem 

Well said !!! 

[MJS]

As long as they play football they can play the Russian National Anthem for all I care.

19 minutes ago, Putin said:

So we have one Anthem for black people and the old Anthem for everyone else ? 
Great idea to get this country united !! 

I don't think unity is the goal. Revenge is the goal.

[Eddiegoofball]

17 minutes ago, krf139 said:

Bottom line is saying something is “black” is racist. We are one America with one national anthem. I’m sick of the pandering 

They don’t want unity - that’s the problem 

So the drive to equality to you is pandering? The point is that many people of color and marginalized people feel like this national anthem was not written for them (and we know that it was not) and doesn't really apply to them. The faces of America are not the same as they were in 1814, nor 1914. I wish we were one America as you say. Sadly decades, even centuries of painful history have proven that is not the case. The way to unite this country is to be honest about our history and problems and learn from them, even evolve a little, not continued denial. Equating equality to pandering isn't a way forward.

[Mike in Horseheads]

59 minutes ago, krf139 said:

Bottom line is saying something is “black” is racist. We are one America with one national anthem. I’m sick of the pandering 

They don’t want unity - that’s the problem 

Who are "they"?

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

17 hours ago, Beast said:

LOL....yeah, seriously because I was around then and never has ANY serious discussion taken place about changing the anthem. 

I recall it mentioned because vocalists struggle with the octave changes, not for any other reason 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Eddiegoofball said:

So the drive to equality to you is pandering? The point is that many people of color and marginalized people feel like this national anthem was not written for them (and we know that it was not) and doesn't really apply to them. The faces of America are not the same as they were in 1814, nor 1914. I wish we were one America as you say. Sadly decades, even centuries of painful history have proven that is not the case. The way to unite this country is to be honest about our history and problems and learn from them, even evolve a little, not continued denial. Equating equality to pandering isn't a way forward.

Very nicely said.  

[Buffalo Barbarian]

There is only one national anthem.

 

 

United we stand divided we fall

 

 

[Agent 91]

On 7/2/2020 at 10:28 PM, Motorin' said:

That's not really an implication. It's pretty much historically accurate. Black people didn't have rights as citizens when the national anthem was written, and there's an unsung verse that threatens black people with death who fought for their freedom against slavery. 

 

Black people had 0 input into what the national anthem should be, and it was only enacted as the national anthem by executive order of a KKK admiring democratic president.

 

Playing the song in question, which is deeply spiritual and far more Christian than Francis Scott Keys tune is no different than singing God Bless America before a game...

 

The third verse is very poignant:

 

God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light
Keep us forever in the path, we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee
Shadowed beneath Thy hand
May we forever stand
True to our God
True to our native land

 

 

THANK YOU!!!! I didn't want to br the one who points that out. FREEMEN.. slaves who couldnt take flight and fear of the graves.... why don't wer Sing the whole song. 

[ghostwriter]

I say we skip the National Anthem and play the Shaq theme song instead.

[dollars 2 donuts]

The world is changing, and I get it, and I am fine with it.  

 

HOWEVER, I wonder if any of these guys, 

ANY OF THEM, from players to coaches to owners, have the guts to do any outward manifestation to show support for victims of NFL players’ domestic violence against woman and children...above and beyond saying they are part of some organization off the field. Something they show on the field before the game.

 

Possibly  prostrating themselves, even during the national anthem (should it remain) in a show of support of all those innocents who have suffered at the hands of NFL players, while more often than not they go relatively unpunished.
 

So honestly, I am down with what they feel they need to do and what they want to do to to get their message across.

 

...but the mirror has two faces and if you are going to be courageous...then for crying out loud don’t stop short.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by dollars 2 donuts

[BringBackFergy]

19 hours ago, Sherlock Holmes said:

As part Jew and part Egyptian, I must say... do you think the pyramids and Spynx are gonna upkeep themselves? 

Leon was a great boxer, but I’d say Michael was a true champ. Still, the pyramids will last much longer than both of them (even though they’re both in great shape for their age.)

[SoTier]

On 7/2/2020 at 8:03 PM, GETTOTHE50 said:

Does every race in America have a national anthem? I’m curious b/c this is the first time I’ve heard of a black one. 

 

Has every race in America been enslaved for 250 years, deprived of their rights as American citizens for another 100+ years, and subjected to widespread racial violence up to the present day?

 

The Black national anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a poem written by James Weldon Johnson in 1905 and set to music by his brother J. Rosalind Weldon.  It was named the "***** national anthem" by the NCAAP in 1919.   It's included in more than 30 different hymnals and is sung in numerous churches across the country, and not just in black churches.  That you and so many white Americans have never heard of the existence of a "Black national anthem" is a reflection of how much of the history of Black Americans has been buried.

[Kirby Jackson]

On 7/2/2020 at 9:22 PM, Muppy said:

I agree in premise to what you are saying but adding a black anthem Makes it about a song...saying the existing song doesn't represent them hence needing their own. The root cause isnt the song but adding one puts the onus ON the song vs making necessary changes so we can be united as Americans under One anthem. The idea of a second anthem  makes me sad. If they do add this I'd stand for both but it still makes me feel divided not United. Which may be their point but will it help institute change? 

I guess the point is that this is how black people have always felt. This song isn’t a new thing. It is just new to white people. We are “adding” the black anthem to pre-game festivities but not to black culture. The song is over 100 years old.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Kirby Jackson

[nedboy7]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

Has every race in America been enslaved for 250 years, deprived of their rights as American citizens for another 100+ years, and subjected to widespread racial violence up to the present day?

 

The Black national anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a poem written by James Weldon Johnson in 1905 and set to music by his brother J. Rosalind Weldon.  It was named the "***** national anthem" by the NCAAP in 1919.   It's included in more than 30 different hymnals and is sung in numerous churches across the country, and not just in black churches.  That you and so many white Americans have never heard of the existence of a "Black national anthem" is a reflection of how much of the history of Black Americans has been buried.

 

EXACTLY. 

The ignorance is just mesmerizing. 

[Jobot]

wth is the black national anthem? Never heard of it. Don't really care, but the changes getting made by BLM are a joke, (Again none of them bother me) but none of this stuff is going to make the lives of black people any better.  Remove some statues, change product names, fire a bunch of openly racists on facebook.