High school students ban national anthem from rallies

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

You can call bullshit all you want. I could care less. Fact is you could be right, but there is not agreement or concensus that the lyrics are "racist"...

It's perfectly reasonable for the students to interpret these lines as condemning slaves who fought for their freedom (in an anthem that praises the "land of the free and home of the brave," no less) In fact, its meaning in plain English and its historical context suggests that other "interpretations" are attempts to assuage those who prefer to believe that America is perfect, was always perfect, isn't racist and was never racist. Here's a bit of context for you:

In April 1814 Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane made the British position official: All those who may be disposed to emigrate from the United States, will, with their Families, be received on board of His Majesty's Ships…. They will have their choice of either entering into His Majesty's Forces, or of being sent as FREE Settlers to British possessions, … where they will meet with all due encouragement. Cochrane then ordered Rear-Admiral George Cockburn to form the Colonial Marines, fighting units made up of refugee slaves.

All told, more than 4000 people were freed from slavery – the largest emancipation that took place in the U.S. until the Civil War. Three companies of Colonial Marines were formed, and their presence did inspire hatred and fear among the Americans. The corps took part in the burning of Washington, fought in the Battle of Baltimore, and skirmished against American forces all along the coast. The British commander-in-chief said they were "infinitely more dreaded by the Americans than the British troops".

http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/...d-sailors-war/

That said, I couldn't care less that some high school students in California chose not to play the national anthem at their own student rally because of their historically defensible belief that the third stanza of the anthem condones the killing of slaves who fought for their freedom. I just think it's funny what kind of shit right-wing media chooses to feature in order to rile up their "poorly-educated" (Trump's words) base that likely have no idea that the anthem even has three more verses beyond the one that they know (and their Dear Leader seemingly doesn't).