I’m all for moving monuments to traitors out of places of honor and putting them in places of context like museums where they are used to tell the story of how divisiveness (like we are experiencing now) can almost destroy a country. But, people of history lived in a world different than we do and just because they behaved in a way that was considered normal at the time doesn’t mean that we should no longer appreciate their contributions. If we did that then we would have no one left to honor. There’s a huge difference between a traitor who attacked our nation and someone who was just a bigot.
That being said, the Star Spangled Banner makes a terrible national anthem for the above-cited reasons. My favorite patriotic song is “This land is your land” by Woodie Guthrie, which talks about the beauty of our country and how it is for all of us. I think it’s perfect.
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