Outrage as NFL announces ‘black national anthem’ Lift Every Voice and Sing will be performed at Super Bowl for 4th year in a row
The NFL is coming under fire after confirming that the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” will be performed during the 2024 Super Bowl.
The song, which was dubbed the “Negro National Anthem” by the NAACP in 1919, references slavery and the hope for liberation. It was later adopted as a rallying cry during the civil rights movement NAACP.
The song was first played before NFL games in 2021 and was also heard during the last two Super Bowls.
But the song, which is performed this year by singer Andra Day has been criticized by some for dividing the public rather than uniting the country.
Andra Day will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at this year’s Super Bowl next month
The song was performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph prior to the Chiefs’ victory over the Eagles last year
“Bro, we’re American. Why do we need Lift Every Voice and Sing?’ one exasperated NFL fan asked in response to the NFL’s announcement.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk also blasted the decision online.
The NFL has announced that the Black National Anthem will be played during the Super Bowl. Of course, in reality, the Black National Anthem is played at every Super Bowl, because The Star-Spangled Banner is the National Anthem of ALL Americans. The effort to create a ‘black national anthem’ and a ‘black Independence Day’ in Juneteenth is part of a broader project to divide Americans by race,” Kirk wrote on X.
“The NFL continues to perpetuate anti-whiteism and division during this year’s Super Bowl. If that’s what you support, enjoy watching. I certainly won’t do that,” Paul A. Szypula tweeted.
‘The fans have only themselves to blame. An organized boycott will stop this nonsense in a few weeks. Instead of whining about it, use your reach to organize a boycott and explain to the NFL what it needs to do to get its audience back,” said Biff Gruffly.
“And again, one of the many reasons is that I no longer watch or even care about the NFL. I’m not the audience they’re targeting. I believe in unity and the NFL is not the same,” Benjamin Hinson added.
“I’m probably done with the NFL. We have a national anthem that represents us as the great American melting pot. To take that and now create an anthem for a single racial group is a slap in the face to every other ethnicity and to our country,” said another.
Artist Alicia Keys became the first to sing the national anthem before the 2021 Super Bowl
Many X users were unhappy with the NFL’s decision to have a separate ‘Black National Anthem’
Some have argued that singing the national anthem is a positive gesture that recognizes the suffering of Black Americans — and a step toward healing the country’s racial divisions.
‘I have never been moved by a performance of the Star Spangled Banner. I am always moved by Lift Every Voice and Sing. White people who, after 100 years and numerous institutional performances during that time, are threatened by the ‘Black National Anthem’ should sit down. It will be okay,” Erinn O’Dear tweeted.
Last year the song was performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph at the Super Bowl, while Mary Mary sang it in 2022.
The song was originally a poem written by James Weldon Johnson, a former NAACP leader.
The lyrics describe the struggles and ambitions of black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century.
The NFL began playing the song before NFL games in the 2020 season following the protests that followed the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Gospel duo Mary Mary sang Lift Every Voice and Sing ahead of the 2022 Super Bowl. However, unlike Ralph, they performed outside the stadium and the performance was pre-recorded
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert last year denounced the song choice: “America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM.”
Luke Zaleski, legal affairs editor at Condé Nast, accused Boebert of hypocrisy
Lavern Spicer, who ran as the Republican nominee for Florida’s 2022 House of Representatives election, expressed the idea that there should be only one national anthem for all Americans.
Conservative blogger and filmmaker Matt Walsh called the NFL’s Black National Anthem ‘an utter disgrace’
Last year there were also mixed reactions to the singing of the song at the most watched sporting event of the year.
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert said on
However, her critics attacked her, suggesting her tweet was more divisive than the recording of the national anthem. Condé Nast legal editor Luke Zaleski accused the politician of hypocrisy.
“The gaslighting is her using the concept of unity to sow division. She’s doing what she’s accusing the NFL of doing. It is a bogus grievance designed to irritate and have the effect of further fragmenting society,” he wrote.
Social media personality Brian Krassentein attacked those who objected to the singing of the national anthem. “If you have a problem with the Black National Anthem, you are one of the reasons it is being sung,” he wrote.
Lavern Spicer, who ran for election to the Florida House of Representatives as a Republican candidate in 2022, put forward the idea that there should be only one national anthem for all Americans.
“The black national anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The White National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The blended anthem is the Star Spangled Banner,” she wrote.
Darrell B. Harrison, a black Bible teacher, said the NFL made a mistake by allowing the national anthem to be sung, and also suggested that this made America a nation of two anthems.
Among the other pregame entertainers for this year’s big game on Feb. 11 are Reba McEntire and Post Malone.
McEntire will perform the American national anthem “Star-Spangled Banner,” while Malone will sing “America the Beautiful.”
Usher was previously announced as the main halftime act at Allegiant Stadium.