Things got very entertaining, if for an infuriating reason, during the NFL season opener between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, September 4, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the hometown of the Eagles. When the Eagles tried starting the game with the so-called “Black National Anthem,” most of the crowd ambivalently ignored the whole proceeding, and others erupted in booing.
As background, the song at issue is called “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Now played by the NFL before the Super Bowl, the season opener, and some regular season games, depending on the team, the song rose to notoriety and became a political football for the football league during the summer of 2020, after the death of George Floyd.
In response to that incident and the racial animus that resulted from it, the NFL started playing the song, which is referred to by activists, enthusiasts, and critics as the “Black National Anthem,” in an ostensible attempt to heal racial division in America.
Its playing started during the same period that the woke slogans started cropping up in NFL end zones. Those end zone slogans, such as “End Racism” and “It Takes All of Us,” largely remain plastered on the NFL’s end zones to this day despite the outrage they caused amongst many viewers, with the NFL saying it is keeping them for good reasons.
In any case, singer Laurin Talese launched into “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the season opener game on Thursday, September 4, and disaster struck. For one, the audio system malfunctioned at the field and so little of what Talese was singing could be heard by the crowd, as it wasn’t amplified around much of the stadium.
Additionally, the response of members of the crowd that heard the song or figured out what was being sung was a mix of booing directed Talese’s way and general uninterest in the whole proceeding, not strict attention to the woke-coded song as tends to happen when the real American National Anthem is played.
Commenting on the audio situation and song generally, sports commentator Jon Root said, “The ‘Black National Anthem’ has no business being sung at NFL, or any other games, but at least the audio was so bad you could barely hear it.” Similarly, an account going by “Officer Lew” noted the crowd’s general ambivalence, saying, “JUST IN🚨: Did anyone notice the Eagles crowd completely ignored the Black National Anthem? No one paid attention.😂😂😂😂”
"*" indicates required fields
And while much of the crowd was ambivalent, video of the incident that emerged also showed fans booing Talese as she sang. One commenter said, posting about that aspect of it, “Philly fans are booing the lady singing the black national anthem 🏈🧐⁉️” Another said, “They are booing the black national anthem in Philly.”
Yet another angry leftist account, commenting on the mix of ambivalence and booing Talese received, said, “Big surprise, Philadelphia fans don’t give a fuck about or respect the ‘Black National Anthem’. Philly, keepin it classy.. as always #DALvsPHI” Watch the incident here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video