No more Star Spangled Banner
 

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

Going way too far. George Washington had slaves I believe. So do they change all the uses of Washington in the United States? George Washington and slavery - Wikipedia

I sure would not go to any game where they would not play our anthem.

Judge people according to the times they lived in not our time.

I for one wouldn't miss it. It's a poorly-written song that is very difficult for most people to sing on key. It's not even a good poem. I'd love to see something new. I don't care who wrote it, it doesn't offend me in the least. It's just a bad song and I'd really hate to think that after over 200 years, that's the best we could do.

I agree with orangeblossombaby. When I lived in NOVA I worked near the Pentagon and some of my employees worked inside the Pentagon. The area was very patriotic but also very diverse. I would like to see a more inclusive feel to our national anthem so everyone of all races feel it's their country too. Change is a scary thing but it doesn't have to be. The diversity I experienced gave me what I needed to feel good about change.

Agree to disagree. Extreme unnecessary change is a scary thing and it should be. Implementation of our country's founding principles has not been perfect, obviously. But the principles are sound and apply to all citizens. I value traditions that celebrate them.

I think the next thing that should go is this whole cancel "culture".

It will NEVER happen!

Like this one? “Red, Brown, yellow, black, and white, all are precious in his sight.” Oh, wait, establishment of religion is not allowed.
Jesus Loves the Little Children (with Lyrics) - YouTube

A nice rap song would be nice before the game. Instead of taking our hats off, we could just turn them sideways.

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. It is about fortitude and strength. It is about how a group of people defending our country refused to give up. It is about the strength of the United States of America. All Americans should feel proud of this great country. We're not perfect and there have been some mistakes, but the good overwhelms the bad by a huge margin.

Battle of Fort McHenry Facts & Summary | American Battlefield Trust

This is the most ridiculous and nefarious idea I have ever heard. I came to America seeking freedom and I found it, but I am afraid our freedoms are being eroded by those who want to destroy her. We cannot allow these elements to destroy our beautiful country.

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves-Edward R. Murrow.

All are free to move to a country with an anthem they find more to their liking.

What’s next
 

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

Star Spangled Banner
 

Someone needs to apply the brakes to this runaway train.

How many verses? are sung ONLY ONE.
There are four verses three are not sung or played at sporting events.
The first documented time that we know the song was played at a sporting event is in 1862 in Brooklyn. But the thing is, you had to hire a band. That was expensive, so it was only for special occasions - opening day, holidays - up until the time of World War II, where sound systems come in, so they could play a recording. And thus, they started to play it before every game.
In the 1950s, the Baltimore Orioles, of all teams, decided that playing "The Banner" before every game cheapened its impact. The general manager at the time decided that he was going to only play it during special occasions.

The Chicago Cubs owner felt the same way. And he did not play "The Banner" before every game until the '60s, during the Vietnam War. And even in the 1960s, the Chicago White Sox experimented with substituting "God Bless America."
Page Not Found : NPR

No More Star Spangled Banner
 

If they replaced it with God Bless America, that would be just fine with me. Frankly, a much better song about America than the Star Spangled Banner, and much easier to sing. The range is manageable.

Enough is enough; when is all this craziness going to stop!

The Star Spangled Banner Was never my favorite patriotic song. Have heard it destroyed by too many people! Yep, it’s that hard to sing. But, we have songs like:

You’re A Grand Old Flag
This Land is Your Land
My Country ‘Tis of Thee
America the Beautiful

These are stirring and say something great about the country and they won’t be torn to shreds every time they are sung.

I just don't get it....people from around the world come to the United States to escape the BS and lack of opportunity in their own country, then they take exception that the USA is different from their former homeland HELLO?

what's with these folks....

They need to assimilate vs. looking at it as just a change of venue, where they can vent their anger that they had to leave their former homeland

To those that say that it's too difficult of a song for them to sing...just speak the words, it's not that difficult...

Flag
 

Ok you were not a slave your mother and grandmother Were not a slave. GET OVER IT. if our flag insults you move out of this country!!!
Sick of this crap.

We should learn from Venezuela....

banner
 

When the feds runs out of money best to prepare for them to require all pension funds to be merged into S.S.I. so that they can redistribute it.

I couldn't be more disgusted with any place I've lived in.

The writer of the Star Spangled Banner was a wealthy slave owner and reading his life's story is stomach churning. How can any black person know this man's history and the story behind this song and not be upset?

As far as celebrating traditions is concerned, the song wasn't made our nation anthem until 1931. Hold on to those cherished traditions though, it's too scary to think about changing things to suit the blacks.

From the third verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner”:

No refuge could save the hireling & 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 & the home of the brave.

This verse is hardly ever sung anymore and I can't imagine a black person singing it with the same pride as the white folks here at the villages.

I would spend more time on this subject but it would be a waste of my time.

Interesting thread - as a side note, I think this is an excellent example of "conservative" vs "progressive".

Conservatives tend to want to "conserve" things. Historically those things were traditions, culture, religion, etc. The belief (in general) being that traditional values are time tested and worth preserving.

Progressives, on the other hand, want to make changes. It is generally believed by progressives that "we can do better". And while some traditions may be good, some may also be bad.

Sorry for the segue, it just seems we see these types of discussions spring up on almost every topic.

Having volunteered for and served in the Marines, I like to believe I am a very patriotic American. And to me, being patriotic means 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.

Wouldn't it be great if we could discuss things intelligently rather than just jumping straight to "the other guys are trying to destroy our country"...

Hey folks, when we ,if ever, can start attending games again I will not be in attendance without the National Anthem.

Well said thank you

A song would be establishing religion?

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.

You are correct, Thanks!!!

Sums up my feelings pretty well.

It's an awful song it should go

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.

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?

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

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.

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

The majority will stop being silent in November

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!

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.