Whenever the Star-Spangled Banner has been played, I have always faced the flag and stood at attention. I did it out of respect for the ideals of our nation that our flag symbolizes. Even though I taught American history for many years, I have to admit I never considered the fact that this anthem has several verses. Because of the recent controversy of some people refusing to stand when it is played, I took some time to examine the poem, the history of the writing of the poem, and the decision that was made more than a hundred years later to use it as our national anthem.
Sadly, I note that the third stanza in this anthem, written in 1814, is about the murder of slaves who desire their freedom. The writing of the poem takes us back to a time when there was slavery in our nation. Rather than words calling for the abolition of this evil, the poem calls for a perpetuation of it. Unfortunately, this third stanza is included as a part of our national anthem due to action of Congress in 1931. I can understand those who object to the singing of this anthem as our national anthem. Even though the words of the third stanza are infrequently sung, they are officially a part of it. Two solutions suggest themselves to me: One, Congress could take action officially removing that third stanza from our national anthem. That does not change the history and bigotry of the time when it was written, or the man who wrote it, but it does send a message that these words defending slavery do not represent the ideals of our nation. Two, a different worthy anthem could take its place as our national anthem. I would suggest: America the Beautiful. Our history as a diverse people is filled with many great achievements. We have dealt with, and overcome many obstacles in our nation’s history. To me, the flag symbolizes the way we have struggled with injustices and failures in our past as we strive to work toward the ideals embodied in the preamble of our Constitution: “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The anthem sung during the time we generally give respect to the flag that symbolizes these ideals should communicate these ideals. Our work is not done. We are still still trying to make progress toward that more perfect union. Trying to understand why people may object to certain symbolic actions is one part of making that progress.
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Time for Common Sense AgainCommon sense commmentary by Joel Kreger (unless noted and credited to a guest writer) Archives
November 2018
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