In recent weeks, there has been questions bought up about The Star Spangled Banner, or our National Anthem. More people everyday are choosing to discourage the use of our anthem. Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, and some other big names are among this list. They claim that they do not want to stand for the anthem that stands for a country and flag that oppresses black people. So today, stanza, by stanza we will cover the full poem of the star spangled banner to see where they believe that this song stands for black oppression.
"O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming;
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?"
The first stanza is the one that is commonly referred to as our National Anthem. In this stanza, it is clearly referring to the flag staying high after the battle in which Francis Scott Keys witnessed. "O'er" is a common abbreviation of the word "Over". With that in mind the first verse shows that even through all of the chaos, the flag was still there, and with our flag, the country was still thriving in hard times.
"On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;
‘Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!"
The second verse gets a tad darker. Francis Scott Keys notes that the fighting has stopped and there is a mist that appears. There is no noise as seen from the words "Silence reposes." There is fear the the US had lost the fight and that the British had won. However once the daylight had shown, the flag was still standing, the US had won.
"And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!"
This is the verse that Colin and the others are claiming is the one that represents the murdering of slaves. However, they are reading this part of the stanza out of context. There was war, and this stanza shows us the aftermath. The first sentence states, what has happened to the troops who attacked our soil. The second sentence, or the fourth line, states that they have all died and their sins have been accounted, or their attack had ceased. These next two lines basically said, all of the traitor slaves who worked for the British were killed. Yes, slaves were killed, no it wasn't because they condoned it, or were willing to do it for fun. They were the enemy, they decided on their own will to betray their country. Yes, it is screwed up, but would anyone in their right minds let someone get away with trying to destroy your country? Yes, black people died, and yes white people died. The part that they are missing is that it is war. We fought ourselves in a war. Francis Scott Keys Despised the slaves who would betray the country because he was on the other side of the war. He was saying all enemies of Britain were destroyed including the slaves and hired men. No harm was meant to any slaves in the Star Spangled Banner, Technically by stating that it was wrong to kill the slaves that were against us, you wanted the British to win? When it was the British who bought slavery over to America. Basically, this says the enemy and all cohorts were defeated. No other connotation.
"O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
, Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just
. And this be our motto— “In God is our trust;
" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
The last Stanza states that this is now where freemen should lie, we have won this battle, through this battle please let us keep our nation safe and preserve peace.
A few last notes that should be said. First Keys, hated slavery, only owning seven slaves himself, releasing them after a few years, one of which stayed with Keys and worked for wages.
Secondly, Keys defended slaves for free and fought for their freedoms. He even was known after his death to have convinced people that slavery was wrong.
Thirdly, one point in his life Keys was an Anti-Abolitionist, but he changed his ways after an embarrassing loss in court.
The Star Spangled Banner was never about hating the Black population. It retold an event that shaped American history and showed American Pride. The lines in question were because they were traitors to the country they were a part of. This article will get a lot of hate for this stance. The Anthem is not the problem. It is the media blowing everything out of context. Next time, do some research yourselves. The truth is there.
