It's just a misguided thing that will further divide this nation. I can imagine every non black person turning their back or taking a knee when this extra song is played. All the BLM advocates will be "offended" by this. Just as most of the others were "offended" by Kapernack's knee.

BTW ....when most people say that they are "offended" by another's actions, I think that they just are annoyed or don't like it. They aren't really offended, because they don't really understand the true meaning of the word. Just like they misuse the words "decimated", "hero" or the king of misused words..
"AWSOME".

If you asked me that a couple of years ago I would have thought your question was crazy. Today, sadly I agree with you. Maybe they should simply do a moment of silence. During that moment you can reflect upon anything that you deem personally important to you.

He didn’t say it never happened or happens. I took his point as it should not happen. The length of a wrong act (slavery for example) does not make it right. It only seems as though it does because people get conditioned to it.

My opinion for a long time has been the National Anthem is played inappropriately. It should be reserved for patriotic and official events, not commercial money-making productions. Stop playing it before NFL games. Instead, play Talking Heads' “Psycho Killer."

America The Beautiful
 

I always thought “America The Beautiful” was a better national anthem for us all

or KNEEL during the new anthem

The 3rd stanza refers to being slaves of the British. It's an ironic twist on the verse in Rule Britannia that says Britons never never ever will be slaves.

It has nothing to do with blacks.

:boom: thank you

To each his own; personally, I don't watch sports and haven't since I was a much younger man. I consider it a waste of time and, even worse, "bread & circus" to keep the "great unwashed" (us) distracted from the things that really matter - just as the Caesars did in the Roman empire. It wouldn't bother me a bit if they played "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" at these events - waste of time and money being used to underwrite this nonsense. :ohdear:

Fred

And then millions of viewers will turn off their TV’s, hurting ratings, reducing advertising revenues, and ultimately reducing players salaries. Only then will players stop kneeling for the national anthem.

It had been our de facto National Anthem since the 1890's. It was codified as such in 1931.

I disagree with your choice. They should play something that brings people together and promotes conversation like Pillow Talk. Or maybe one that promotes some diversity in language like Voulez - Vous.

And all this time, I thought NFL players were from America. Where exactly is this black nation that this Anthem is from?

No longer watch sports
 

I stopped watching football when the first knee was taken. Basketball when Le Bron started his political crap. Baseball when players refused to stand for the anthem and soccer when the knee was taken. Best part I no longer miss any of it. Maybe we should see how well sports would survive if only blacks attended.

I Stoped watching football when the kneeler was not fined or thrown off the team after the first game. If only my fourth grade teacher were here. Wow she is probably rolling in her grave. So sad that no one remembers the truth that a lot or people came willingly or released from prison or were sold by there families, including Africans to America for a chance for a better life , no guarantee or entitlement, just a Opportunity for a better life. What one does with that Opportunity is not someone Else’s burden.
If we shut the door to the past then we are Damned to repeat it.

Now this is TRULY racism!!!

You get my vote. Exactly how I felt after the kneeling stuff started. No more pro sports for me.

Roger Goodell is merely (in the immortal words of Mel Brooks - Blazing Saddles) trying to protect his "phony-baloney" job:

The max compensation on the commissioner's new deal is $200M over five years if all incentives are hit

Roger Goodell's base salary would be roughly in the range of $20M per year - CBSSports.com

There are no principles involved here :icon_wink:

Fred

Amen!

.
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...wait 'till the NBA starts...
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Must be since most football and b-ball players are black

Oh Canada is played at sports arenas at all games when visiting players come , same for spirts with an international team , I think it’s a nice gesture and a good song gives people something to think about.

I will not be watching any NFL game that does not play the National Anthem nor will I watch if there is any kneeling. Honoring our flag and anthem has nothing to do with kneeling before a game. Our flag deserves recognition as the greatest nation on earth regardless of our misgivings which we have fought to correct!!! Too many have died to give us the right to preserve our way of life to disrespect these rights by kneeling before a lousy football, soccer, baseball, hockey game or any other event. So, I will exercise my right not to watch or support those who do. One angry veteran!!!

You should take it at home and discontinue your financial support for such nonsense … just sayin' :icon_wink:


Fred

Me too .... to flip a phrase :icon_wink:

To many people died for the right to live free and to protest peacefully anyway they choose ( see Supreme Court verdicts

During the time the Philadelphia Flyers were the best team in hockey, in the mid 80s, that team did not play the Star Spangled Banner at all before key games. Instead they opted for Kate Smith singing God Bless America. Was there an outcry about not playing the "National Anthem" of course not. Did white people say they were going to stop watching hockey if Francis Scott Key's song was omitted? Of course not. So the issue is not that all games must be preceded by a particular song and only that song. And the NFL is not omitting the national anthem, they are electing for one game out of the entire season to play an additional song before the national anthem. Have stadiums had music before the national anthem before? Surely they have.

So the real objection here, it seems to me, is not that the official anthem is not being played as it is being played. The objection is that a song which attempts to capture something of the black experience in America is also being played. We can't have that can we? Nothing racial at all about objecting to a song about the black experience which is preceding not replacing the national anthem. Right?

Singling out ANY particular racial group in this manner, whether to laud or condemn, is (to borrow a favorite and overused leftist epithet) racist by its very nature! No matter how it is "spinned" [sic] :ohdear:

Fred

I agree and I'm tired of this pandering under the pretense of systemic racism.

Steve

I see that cute little wink icon. Yes, it is very funny to intentionally use a phrase which is strongly associated with the pain people have experienced being victims of sexual assault as part of a cute comment. Nice job flipping a phrase.

I agree it truly is a beautiful song. However, if the NFL does this it will probably only add to the division.
That being said, if no one had labeled this a Black National Anthem and the current resident of the Oval Office had suggested (as his idea) that this should be our new anthem, my guess is these people posting their negative responses would be running out to learn the words.

shouldn't

You have good vision and perhaps even a sense of humor

No, it's simply common sense to object to a song that's now been racialized, by design, and forced down our throats as part of the ongoing woke culture ... people are sick of everything being politicized, including the NFL

"The objection is that a song which attempts to capture something of the black experience in America is also being played. We can't have that can we? "

Correct, we should sympathize with those poor majority in the NFL that are soooo representative of the "black experience."

But the objection on this thread has not been that it singles out a particular group rather this is a very specific objection to the group being black.

One poster labeled the song as contrived garbage and wrongly stated it was replacing the SSB.

I'm pretty sure nobody intended it as a joke.

I can't imagine how playing a song will harm race relations. There only seems to be a specific segment of our society which objects to playing a song once before one game out of the season. I think acknowledging the problem and the tiny gesture of playing a song might help just a bit.

Again misinformed people. The national anthem is going to be played. Why do so many people seem to not understand what is being proposed?

Recent polling since the murder of Mr. Lloyd show support for BLM by every racial group, Only one sub-group does not support BLM, white Republicans.

Again the BLM movement is supported by most Americans including most white Americans. For those who believe that white people agreeing with BLM is a rarity, your information bubble is too small.

So I don't see many people, although there were some, who objected because this honored one of many segments of American society, the objection was because it honored Black Americans. The poem reflects on how far we have come and how much suffering there has been but with perseverance and the help of God the future is bright. Obviously there still is work to be done.

The Star-Spangled Banner
National Anthem
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the Defence of Fort M'Henry, a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in th…

Everyone has an opinion. Even though there is a statement that ONLY white Republicans are against this, I highly doubt it. But, it is one person's opinion. My opinion is that if given a vote, the majority would vote against having that DIVISIVE song preempt the National Anthem. It won't matter to me, because I will no longer waste my time with politics in professional sports.
In my opinion, millionaire BLACK athletes are representative of the "black plight" in America. They are representative of what ANYONE can accomplish in America and should be as grateful for it as anyone else that is successful in America.
As the years go by, I see less and less reason to sympathize with the "black plight" in America. I do not see anything further that can be done that will convince them that we have done everything we can to help them assimilate into our diverse culture. We have not excluded them. Time for the crutches to be put aside and some folks to walk on their own. If they fall, then a winner gets back up again.

What do you object to in the song?
 

Did you even bother to look up the lyrics? It is a beautiful statement about our country.

Lift ev'ry voice and sing
'Til earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on 'til victory is won
Stony the road we trod
Bitter the chastening rod
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died
Yet with a steady beat
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered
Out from the gloomy past
'Til now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast
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


Why would any proud American object to this song and it's message?

..........................

I certainly don't "object to this song/message" - Personally I object to be forced to include ANOTHER "national anthem" played during a USA sporting event. There is a REASON the Canadian anthem is played with the US anthem during Hockey - It is TWO countries. So does this NOW MEAN Black NFL players want THEIR anthem played? I guess so. BTW it TRULY TORQUED me to read that USA Today article (a very Liberal Media, based on articles presented (or NOT) and editorials. That's all fine - and why I read the online version - to get all sides. BUT - THEY are the ones that labeled this THE BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM - and why I had to open this Thread. I find it so divisive, and yet another wedge driven to promote fractures in our society.

On another note re this topic - this following article hits many points, pertaining to why some non-Black folks have difficulty with the BLM "Movement">


Wow!
I'm so confused right now. I see signs all over saying black lives matter. I’m just trying to figure out which black lives matter. It can’t be the unborn black babies. It’s not black cops. They don’t seem to matter. It’s not my black conservative friends. They are told to shut up if they know what’s best for them by their black counterparts. It’s not black business owners. Their property does not mean anything. It’s not blacks who fought in the military. Their statues are destroyed with disdain by the black lives matter protesters. So which black lives matter again?

Black Lives Matter. Of course they do! Then, when multiple black police officers and individuals were killed during the “peaceful protests”, I didn’t see any outrage. Black individually owned businesses burned to the ground. Silence. Deadliest weekend in Chicago. NOTHING!!

I can’t keep up. I just can’t. I’m exhausted trying to figure out what we’re all supposed to do, believe, and be offended and outraged by next.

Two months ago, First Responders were all the rage. In fact, they were heroes. We gave them free coffee, meals, and cheers as they drove by. Today, we hate them and want them defunded because they can’t be trusted.

Two months ago, truck drivers were the heroes, as well, for keeping America moving and the grocery stores stocked. Today we block the roads with protesters, drag them out of the cabs and beat them half to death.
Nurses and Doctors are still cool for now. But they may be unemployed. They too are heroes, unless of course they truly believe all lives matter. Then they're part of the problem like so many others.

Just 45 days ago protests weren’t “essential” and were considered criminal, selfish and a murderous activity. Today they are gloriously critical and celebrated. All of the obvious criminal and murderous activities are simply ignored. If you protest about lock downs for freedom, you are selfish and you will spread a virus. If you protest, loot, and riot for social justice, you are a warrior and the virus fades to the background.