While fans universally praised country music artist Chris Stapleton over his beautiful, tear-jerking rendition of America’s national anthem, plenty of people remain sharply divided over the inclusion of the so-called black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” for the first time in the Super Bowl’s long history.
To be sure, the performer sang admirably, and the critique lands squarely on both the NFL for forcing this racist, divisive song in the heart of a sports contest as well as the woke ruling class that seems immorally focused on skin color.
“The performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at Sunday’s Super Bowl marks the first time the Black National Anthem has been performed on-field at the NFL’s championship game,” Yahoo! News reported. “Actress and singer Sheryl Lee Ralph belted out the song prior to kickoff on Sunday.”
The internet immediately went berserk, calling out the NFL for capitulating to the woke mob as well as featuring a song meant not to unite, but further divide. It’s also blatantly redundant, as this country already has a national anthem – one that is meant for everyone.
Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial candidate and rumored 2024 Senate candidate Kari Lake earned props across the conservative space of Twitter for refusing to stand for the song.
Kari Lake sat for the black national anthem. Good for her.
This country has ONE national anthem. pic.twitter.com/8XRjNTDt2e
— Todd Peterson (@Todd_Peterson_1) February 13, 2023
Ironically, but not accidentally, the fake outrage mob pounced against Lake for defiling their sacred song (as of two years ago) but for years demanded everyone accept Colin Kaepernick and other millionaire black athletes kneel against their supposed oppression.
Twitter comments went absolutely nuts.
Lavern Spicer said: “The Black National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The White National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The Mixed National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. If you live in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, your National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner.”
“Spoiler Alert: The people pushing the “Black National Anthem” aren’t trying to unify the country, they’re trying to divide it,” conservative account ALX said
“My “black” National Anthem is the same anthem I’ve been singing since I was a child. The same one children of all races have been singing. My National Anthem never needed a color. Do they want racism to die, or do they want to keep finding ways to divide us all?” a user rhetorically asked.
James Lindsay, long an opponent of woke identity politics, clearly outlined the issue, writing, “There’s no such thing. This is a mid-level provocation with the goal of starting a dialectical fight about how it is a real thing and the concept of “American” isn’t suitable to describe Americans. It’s an attack on American identity using race.”
Another user stated that “[h]aving a black national anthem is just another way that Democrats keep us divided.”
And conservative commentator Nick Adams blasted the actions, saying. “This song is disgraceful and disgusting. There is NO SUCH THING as a “black national anthem. This is the most egregious escalation of racial division since the Civil War. My expectations for the NFL were already low, but this is a whole new level of woke stupidity.”
Yahoo! News observed what fans have slowly been seeing creep into their television sets and stadiums has been a slow burn. While the Super Bowl featured the divisive song for the first time ever, it began its operations in 2020 after the controversial death of George Floyd. Yahoo! wrote:
The historic performance was the first time the song has been performed in an official capacity on a Super Bowl game field. Two years ago, Alicia Keys first performed the ballad during a pre-recorded Super Bowl broadcast. In 2022, singer Mary Mary gave a performance of the song from outside of the Super Bowl stadium in Inglewood, Calif., notes Billboard.
See the video performance below:
The Black National Anthem is now the new national anthem, apparently. pic.twitter.com/ZxSwRWrLa9
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 12, 2023
Featured image: Screenshot from embedded Twitter video.
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