(RepublicanNews.org) – Many Americans weren’t happy about one of this year’s National Anthem performances at the Super Bowl as organizers of the sporting event delivered a “Black National Anthem” to its audience.
The Super Bowl LVIII pregame show on Sunday, February 11th, featured a performance of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Grammy-winning recording artist Andra Day. The hymn is often called the “Black National Anthem,” a name that bothered many conservative commentators on Super Bowl Sunday who saw the performance as political browbeating.
One of those critics was Kari Lake, who responded to a photo circulating of herself from last year’s game in which she remained seated during the hymn. Lake replied to the photo and said she still would not stand for the “Black National Anthem,” which she called “divisive garbage.”
Another Twitter account called End Wokeness, a popular conservative commentator with over 2.2 million followers, also rebuked the performance, posting that there’s “no such thing as a ‘Black National Anthem.’” The account added that anyone who has a problem with the actual National Anthem is “free to leave.”
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida boycotted the game entirely, claiming that by playing “something called the ‘Black National Anthem,’” the NFL was “desecrating” the American National Anthem.
The traditional American National Anthem was performed by Reba McEntire but many felt Day’s performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was emphasized more and they weren’t happy about referring to it as another “national anthem.” They also interpret the inclusion of the hymn to be another form of “woke” ideological browbeating, which many Americans are growing tired of, even moderates.
The hymn was originally written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, an American author and civil rights activist, and later set to music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson. The song became a popular tune amongst activists and saw a revival during the Black Lives Matter protests, which erupted after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Critics of the song don’t seem upset about its content so much as its designation by others as a separate or alternative national anthem.
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