If this story is genuine, they should be ashamed. If it’s a joke, then they should be ashamed. The California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is proposing that we do away with the Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem. I’m not kidding—and they use Colin Kaepernick’s ongoing war with our national anthem that has engulfed the National Football League in controversy as an example for why it should be removed. If we pick a new song, then this controversy goes away, they say. I can’t believe this is even a thing (via Sacramento Bee):
When California lawmakers return to the Capitol in January, the state chapter of the NAACP will be seeking their support for a campaign to remove “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem.
The organization last week began circulating among legislative offices two resolutions that passed at its state conference in October: one urging Congress to rescind “one of the most racist, pro-slavery, anti-black songs in the American lexicon” as the national anthem, and another in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who launched a protest movement against police brutality among professional athletes by kneeling when “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played before games.
“We owe a lot of it to Kaepernick,” California NAACP President Alice Huffman said. “I think all this controversy about the knee will go away once the song is removed.”
[…]
Huffman said Congress, which adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem in 1931, should find a replacement that is not “another song that disenfranchises part of the American population.”
This move stems from the unsung third verse of our national anthem that some interpret as celebrating the deaths of black people, who joined the British during the War of 1812. Yeah, this verse is never sung in sporting events. I’ve never heard it at any other event either. It’s just absurd; stand for the anthem—period