NAACP Wants ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ Replaced As National Anthem Because It Is ‘Racist’

The California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has said it pushing for the replacement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem. The NAACP said it plans to start lobbying legislators in January to replace “The Star Spangled Banner.” According to Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the NAACP, part of the lyrics of the song, which has been the national anthem since 1931, is racist, proslavery, and hostile to black Americans.

“This song is wrong,” Huffman said, according to CBS station KOVR-TV. “It should never have been there, and just like we didn’t have it until 1931, it won’t kill us if it goes away.”

Apparently referring to the third stanza of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” which says “no refuge could save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,” Huffman condemned the song as racist.

“It’s racist. It doesn’t represent our community. It’s anti-black people.”

She noted that analysts have interpreted the lyrics as being in reference to black slaves fighting for their freedom. It is widely believed that the lyrics celebrate the death of black slaves who fought with the British in the War of 1812 for their freedom. Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), who wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was a slave owner who fought against abolitionists, critics also note.

“Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”

“I believe that any individual that hears the song, that believes in the song should take the time to understand what the song is really saying,” NAACP Regional Director Ronald Hasson said, according to KABC-TV.

Hasson then went on to reveal that the NAACP plans to lobby legislators to replace the song as the national anthem.

“If we’re going to talk about a song that’s supposed to represent all people, let’s really be serious about what we’re talking about, or what is being sung,” Hasson said.

According to KABC-TV, the NAACP plans to push for a resolution in January to replace the “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem. The NAACP also plans to push for a resolution in support of Colin Kaepernick who helped to spark a debate about racial inequality in the country by kneeling during the national anthem sung before football games.

Many Americans have criticized the suggestion that “The Star-Spangled” banner be replaced as the national anthem.

“That’s an extreme way of doing things,” protested Kenneth Lu, a veteran who lives in Davis, according to CBS News.

“It won’t solve any problem,” said veteran John Cox.

However, Huffman argued that retaining a song with lyrics which alienate a section of the American citizenry is wrong. Replacing “The Star-Spangled Banner” might not solve any problems but it would be a step in the right direction towards justice and equality for all Americans regardless of race and ethnic identity, Huffman argued.

“This country is a country that has shared values, and the more we respect each other, the better off we’ll be as a country.”

The push by the California chapter of the NAACP comes amid the controversy sparked by Colin Kaepernick’s NFL protests. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback claimed that he knelt in protest during the national anthem sung before football games to draw attention to racial injustice in the country.

Huffman argued that the nation lost focus on Kaepernick’s message about racial injustice when his critics chose to misconstrue his kneeling as an act of disrespect for the national flag.

“The real intentions got overlooked, and it’s become something that’s dividing us, and I’m looking for a way to bring us back together.”

[Featured Image by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]