Angry White Conservatives Just Can’t Accept The Black National Anthem Being Sung At The Super Bowl

At this point, it’s just kind of amusing to watch white conservatives get their Klan-derwear all in a bunch over literally any mundane thing that has the word “Black” behind it.

For the second year in a row, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” aka the Black National Anthem, has been performed during the Super Bowl, and for the second year in a row, prominent white conservatives, along with their white-and-teary followers, have complained about it ad nauseam.

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1757432223416881547

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Here’s Megyn Kelly—the former Fox News host who famously took umbrage with Santa Clause and Jesus being depicted as Black—suddenly taking a pro-colorblind stance on the official national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“The so-called Black National Anthem does not belong at the Super Bowl. We already have a National Anthem and it includes EVERYONE,” said the woman who thinks blackface is fine but considers the Black National Anthem an insult.

Honestly, it isn’t clear why Kelly and other white people feel left out of a song that literally directs us to “Lift EVERY Voice and Sing.” It’s not as if the original poem written by James Weldon Johnson included the lyrics: “Lift every voice and sing…aht aht aht…not you, white people, y’all gotta whisper.”

Ironically, none of these so-called American patriots appear to be familiar with the history of either anthem.

White people across social media have insisted that America has only ever had one national anthem and that’s why it’s the only one that should be observed. Factually, America has only had an official anthem at all for less than a century. “The Star-Spangled Banner” may have been written in 1814, but it only became the national anthem in 1931, and that was after racist lyrics were omitted that have been interpreted as threats to enslaved Black people who fought for the British during the Revolutionary War.

They also appear to think the Black National Anthem is something new. I mean, we all know that like critical race theory, the word “woke,” Swag Surfing and Travis Kelce’s haircut, a thing doesn’t really become a thing until white people discover it no matter how long said thing has been around. So, it isn’t terribly surprising that ever-Columbusing white people appear to believe the song is something new put forth to further divide America, as opposed to a poem written in 1900 before it was adapted into a song and eventually dubbed by Black people as the “Black National Anthem.” The anthem isn’t something that was given to us, it’s something we created during a time when their anthem simply didn’t apply to us—which is the real reason they need it buried. 

It’s also worth mentioning that white America’s favorite jingoism jingle is essentially a song about war, whereas the Black National Anthem is a song about peace and love—so which song is really the divisive one? (Hint: it’s not the one that had to Etch A Sketch pro-slavery lyrics.) 

Here’s the thing, white people, you really just need to let this one go. You have no argument here. Black people, by and large, have never identified with or had an affinity for your precious little white nationalist Diddy-bop, so we made our own. If you have a problem with the existence of dual anthems, we can always just ditch yours. It’s been our anthem for a relatively short time, and just because it came first doesn’t mean we have to stick with it. It doesn’t have to be our default just because centuries after it was created by and for white people, white people suddenly decided it’s a song for everyone.

Actually, if white conservatives really took issue with two opposing symbols being represented in America, they wouldn’t be flying the Confederate flag and protecting Confederate monuments with every “patriotic” breath they breathe.

So, the issue with the Black National Anthem clearly isn’t that America already has an anthem. What is the problem then? It’s a positive, inclusive song about love, God and unity. What part of that has MAGAts of the MAGA world all up in arms? Is it simply the “Black” part?

Nah, couldn’t be. That would be racist.

SEE ALSO:

‘Lift Every Voice And Sing’: The True Story Of The Black National Anthem

‘So-Called’ News Station Questions Black National Anthem’s Legitimacy, Quickly Issues Apology