[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Martian

...I want to make America as great as it is possible for it to be. And to do that, I personally believe that righting wrongs and making positive changes is the right thing to do.

But, I can certainly understand why many feel the changes we are experiencing are too much too fast...

Sums up my feelings pretty well.

[Juliebythesea]

It's an awful song it should go

[billethkid]

So one wacko "reporter" in LA gets a bug up his/her a$$ about the national anthem and it get national attention!?!?!?

Who said the media is not leading the discussion!

People who have nothing invested in the core values do not care much about anything other than their participation in a given agenda/organization.

We are fast losing site of what it is that truly makes up America. It is being redefined by special interest, minority and political agenda. The very concept of "we the people" is under attack.

The concept of those in elected positions are the "representatives" of we the people is all but lost in the current special interest cancel culture movement.

The silent/ignored majority can ill afford to stand idly by while this degradation of our country continues.

We have long passed by the not in my backyard hence no big deal. What is happening is obviously under way, yes, here in our back yard. Many of the posts here on TOTV attest to that.

All this divisive partisan/minority/special interest BS will come to an end after the election and after the virus vaccine is in use.

Too many people with nothing to do.....and more and more politicians figuring how to pay them for doing nothing.

[ronharvey2]

I have always thought it was not a good song for our national anthem. Not because of any issues other than the fact the major theme is war and people dying. It sends the wrong message to the world. Why not "America the Beautiful" or something else with a positive theme instead of death and destruction?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

What exactly about the Star Spangled Banner is not inclusive? Why would any citizen of this country not feel that it's their country as well. Read up on the story of the Star Spangled Banner.

There is nothing remotely racist, sexist or exclusionary about it.

This is only inclusionary if blacks are slaves, and not free people:

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.

That's the third verse of the song. Bold underlined emphasis mine.

In 1931 when this song was made the official anthem, another song was being considered: My Country 'Tis of Thee. It was a new set of lyrics applied to the British anthem, "God Save the Queen." This seems to me SO much more profound and significant, than the lyrics -or- the melody of the anthem we have now. It has more meaning: we were formed from settlers who left Britain in protest of England's religious restrictions. So My Country 'Tis of Thee is a serious statement: "We came here to get away from you, and we are in a much better place now."

Unless of course you don't feel that we are in a better place now, in which case - might want to see if England will let you back in, during the pandemic.

[Caruso9]

REALLY!!! Change the National Anthem. Nothing was said all these years, not we have to bow down to the terrorist group, BLM. If we do this, this country is gone.

[17362]

Ridiculous.
Next they will say our constitution was written by slave owners so our constitution has to be getting rid of.
Perhaps that is their goal all along.
This is all just plain ridiculous

[jammendolia]

Originally Posted by Nazdad

Ok let’s stop and composes a new national anthem So what do we do when a new group does not like that one. Come on folks history is the past so you can study it and not make the same mistakes. Whites and blacks were slave owners. when is the majority going to stop being silent

The majority will stop being silent in November

[LowOnCash]

This is a total waste of time News Flash you can't eraser the past and there is nothing wrong with the past. If not for slavery there would be no blacks in the USA nor would we have had a black president. Lets Move On!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Caruso9

REALLY!!! Change the National Anthem. Nothing was said all these years, not we have to bow down to the terrorist group, BLM. If we do this, this country is gone.

Things were said "all these years." But no one in authority ever listened. This is nothing new. It's just being brought to your attention via internet media, which most people actually participate in.

That's the ridiculous thing about ALL of these issues. The only reason most people don't believe they were issues in the past, is that the internet didn't exist in the past. Cell phones didn't exist in the past. The ability to transport information from one part of the world to another part in a single second didn't exist in the past.

Now, we have instant access to live-stream videos of things that are happening, without having to be in front of our TV sets to see them. So now, we are seeing issues that have ALWAYS been issues, but that some people have not noticed because they were watching the wrong channel at the time, or reading the wrong newspaper at the time.

[Martian]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Things were said "all these years." But no one in authority ever listened. This is nothing new. It's just being brought to your attention via internet media, which most people actually participate in.

That's the ridiculous thing about ALL of these issues. The only reason most people don't believe they were issues in the past, is that the internet didn't exist in the past. Cell phones didn't exist in the past. The ability to transport information from one part of the world to another part in a single second didn't exist in the past.

Now, we have instant access to live-stream videos of things that are happening, without having to be in front of our TV sets to see them. So now, we are seeing issues that have ALWAYS been issues, but that some people have not noticed because they were watching the wrong channel at the time, or reading the wrong newspaper at the time.

Pretty much agree with this statement. I have for years felt that people are suffering from information overload. At some point, I just turn off. I can't deal with all the news.

[Dust Bunny]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

It looks like the Star Spangled Banner is next. An Op Ed in the LA Times says Francis Scott Key was a slave owner so the song has to go. After all, the statue of Francis Scott Key was toppled by protesters in Golden Gate Park.
Major League Soccer announced that the anthem would not be played before games when its season resumed in July following the coronavirus lockdown. A petition posted on Change.org advocated dropping the song as the national anthem, pointing to “elitist, sexist, and racist” verses in Key’s poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” from which “The Star-Spangled Banner” was adapted.
Here's the Op Ed.
Replace The Star-Spangled Banner with a new national anthem - Los Angeles Times

It was fashionable in those days to own slaves. Just like cigarettes was fashionable in the 1930's. Now you are looked down upon if you smoke. Cigarettes were in C rations during WWII. Every Hollywood Actor smoked including women. Times have changed. Grow up people! Everyone is looking under every rock and tree to find something they can say offends them. Well, the BLM offends me! They are anarchists' trying to rewrite history.

[Martian]

Originally Posted by Dust Bunny

It was fashionable in those days to own slaves. Just like cigarettes was fashionable in the 1930's. Now you are looked down upon if you smoke. Cigarettes were in C rations during WWII. Every Hollywood Actor smoked including women. Times have changed. Grow up people! Everyone is looking under every rock and tree to find something they can say offends them. Well, the BLM offends me! They are anarchists' trying to rewrite history.

I agree with most of your post, but why the gross generalization about BLM? Do you know for a fact that every BLM member is an anarchist? That would be like me saying every White person is a racist.

[justjim]

Slowly but truly we (United States of America) seem to be on a path to destroy our country from within. History tells us that it’s not the enemy from the outside but ourselves that allows a society to topple. We better get off this path soon.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Martian

Pretty much agree with this statement. I have for years felt that people are suffering from information overload. At some point, I just turn off. I can't deal with all the news.

I've paid attention to the issues since college (in the late 1970's/early 1980's). I wasn't involved in Civics, but I went to school for print journalism so civics was a very important and required aspect of my education. I sat in on court cases in the state house and wrote articles for class, had to do a huge 10-page report using all the rules of investigative journalism as a final exam, had to meet politicians and interview them, went to Washington DC as part of a class trip and met with my Senator and Congressman, had a personal guide from my Senator through the underground tunnels to the Department of Commerce, where my cousin was the assistant deputy press secretary for Ronald Reagan.

My school's population was comprised of a majority of LGBTQ+ people - including the staff. Minorities were the majority. I was the minority white straight girl. I was exposed to "different" and learned that we all breathe the same air, and we all want to be loved, and we all have love to give, no matter what physical attributes or preference in life-mates makes us look different from each other.

I was exposed to "different" for decades. So perhaps that is why I have the perception I have. People who spent their lives in somewhat isolated parts of rural or semi-rural America didn't have that exposure. So "other" might seem intimidating.

Our country isn't about a singular war with bombs bursting in air, or a piece of cloth hanging from a pole. That isn't what our country is about. It never was about that. Our country is about "other." We were founded by "other." People from England who protested their own mandates and regulations and official state religions - wanted out, because they knew their own country would not allow it to change. So they came here - because this was where they could BE "different" and have a chance for survival.

THAT is what our country was created for. THAT is the purpose of America.

Until this concept is embraced and accepted, our country will not succeed. We are still in the learning process. This, this "what song will represent us?" is one lesson that we are still learning. It's a bump in the road, a symbol of transition.