Is The National Anthem Racist?
The Star-Spangled Banner, long a cherished sign of national unity, has actually unexpectedly become “one of the most racist, pro-slavery songs” in American culture. Why is this occurring? And more significantly, is it true? U.S.A. Today writer James Robbins explores the history of the song and its author to respond to these questions.
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Script:
Is America’s nationwide anthem racist?
Had you asked this concern just a few years ago to fans at a basketball, football, or baseball video game, they would have presumed you had imbibed one a lot of beers.
Today, thanks to an attack by the progressive left on “The Star-Spangled Banner” and its composer, Francis Scott Key, you may get a different reaction.
Here’s what Jason Johnson, journalism professor at Morgan State University and popular cable television news commentator, wrote about the anthem: “It is one of the most racist, pro-slavery, anti-black songs in the American lexicon …”.
Is Johnson severe? In fact, he is. And regretfully, a lot of progressives agree with him. Why? To address that question, we require a short history of the tune.
Key composed “The Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the American triumph at the Battle of Ft. McHenry throughout the War of 1812, a rare bright spot in the young nation’s 2nd conflict with Britain– a dispute in which the Americans primarily got their butts kicked.
Critics like Johnson concentrate on the 3rd stanza, in which Key buffoons the retreating British soldiers. Before explaining those lyrics, I need to make a point: The 3rd stanza is virtually unknown. Almost no American has ever sung, check out, or heard it. But however, it’s not almost as offensive as it’s constructed out to be.
Here’s what Key wrote: ” No refuge might conserve the hireling and slave, from the fear of flight, or the gloom of the tomb.”.
The claim of bigotry focuses, obviously, on Key’s usage of the word “servant” which, so the argument goes, refers to the British Second Corps of Colonial Marines. This system was made up of previous American servants who had been encouraged to escape bondage and fight along with British soldiers.
According to this line of thinking, the slave-owning Key, a popular lawyer, was extremely upset by the concept of released blacks combating versus their previous masters and was so gratified by their defeat that he inserted this line into his poem.
Like many Americans living in the early 19th century, Key’s record on race was mixed. On the one hand, he owned servants himself. On the other, he provided totally free legal representation to slaves petitioning the Maryland court for their liberty.
In 1835, he served as prosecutor in a case in Washington, D.C. of an enslaved black guy, Arthur Bowen, who was implicated of threatening his white female owner. When a riot took place over the event, Key bravely stood between Bowen and a lynch mob bent on killing him.
With respect to the anthem, there is no direct proof that Key was describing the Second Corps of Colonial Marines, that he even knew that the unit existed, or cared if it did. It should even more be kept in mind that this system was not even present at the fight, so Key might not have actually seen them fleeing the field.
Why, then, did Key utilize the word “servant”?
We’ll never ever understand for sure, of course, however it’s important to keep in mind that Key was not the first individual to utilize the expression “hirelings and servants.” It was a typical rhetorical device of the time, utilized on both sides of the Atlantic.
You discover it in news article and English-language literature well before the start of the war. It was an all-purpose insult that could be used to describe enemy soldiers, foreign leaders, corrupt politicians, or anybody else in requirement of a put-down.
For the complete script, see https://www.prageru.com/video/is-the-national-anthem-racist.
source
The Star-Spangled Banner, long a valued symbol of nationwide unity, has all of a sudden ended up being “one of the most racist, pro-slavery songs” in American culture. Critics like Johnson focus on the 3rd stanza, in which Key mocks the retreating British soldiers. Like many Americans living in the early 19th century, Key’s record on race was blended. On the one hand, he owned servants himself. On the other, he provided free legal representation to servants petitioning the Maryland court for their freedom.
