NFL to play black National Anthem prior to Star Spangled banner

[Happy]

33 minutes ago, Logic said:

By....by playing the Black National Anthem?

Huh. 

I'll never understand the things that upset some people.

 

Where else is the Black National Anthem played?  I personally have never heard of it, but that could just mean that I've never heard of it.  I am pretty sure it was never played in NFL games in the past, nor is it played at MLB, NHL, and NBA games.

 

So between the BNA and players kneeling through the traditional NA, that will turn a lot of people off.  Stadium attendance dropped off significantly in several stadiums a few years ago when Kapernick started kneeling through the NA.  I would believe it would be no different this time around.  Most people want some tradition, which has made the NFL what it is now.  If anything, don't play any anthem before the games and that will solve a lot of potential problems and controversies.

[whatdrought]

Idiotic. The implication this creates is that the national anthem is the white anthem all because a subpar QB decided to kneel. 

[Rico]

6 minutes ago, Saint Doug said:

I like the Biggie idea. If Kendrick or Danny Brown dropped a verse or 2, I’d definitely be onboard. Produced by Dre, of course. Otherwise, I’ve never heard of such an eff’ing, divisional, racist idea. I’d rather have them completely drop the National Anthem rather than play 2. 

I'm down with it as long as they have a chorus of 50-100, all in their robes, singing and dancing along. That's always cool.

[Robert James]

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

I see alot of comments very upset and saying they're done with the NFL. Is this further dividing things? 

I personally don't have a big issue with it but I don't like politics in my sports.

Thoughts?

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/-nfl-to-play-black-national-anthem-before-the-star-spangled-banner-at-week-1-games-211305337.html

 

It seems completely appropriate to me.  People across the country are collectively recognizing the centuries-old problem of racial inequity and taking actions to address it. Seventy percent of NFL players are black.  Playing the black national anthem before the first game of this NFL season is a fitting way to acknowledge the problem.  And advocating for greater equality is completely patriotic.

[RiotAct]

the what now???

[RaoulDuke79]

God bless America ??. Happy birthday. 

[Beast]

1 minute ago, Robert James said:

 

It seems completely appropriate to me.  People across the country are collectively recognizing the centuries-old problem of racial inequity and taking actions to address it. Seventy percent of NFL players are black.  Playing the black national anthem before the first game of this NFL season is a fitting way to acknowledge the problem.  And advocating for greater equality is completely patriotic.

So, should there be a white NA played before hockey and baseball games since whites are dominant In those sports?

[Buffalo716]

16 minutes ago, Penfield45 said:

 

thats basically half the people who post on this forum lol 

take that half ass statement elsewhere

 

99% of all white people are not racist

[Rocky Landing]

1 hour ago, Just Jack said:

Can I kneel while they play it?

 

 

And does it really matter if no fans are in the stands?

If people get offended by you kneeling for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," (also known as the black national anthem), it will be the second time in the history of mankind that people became offended by kneeling.

[Lurker]

Certainly a better choce than the bad 80s rock they play now...

[Penfield45]

5 minutes ago, Beast said:

So, should there be a white NA played before hockey and baseball games since whites are dominant In those sports?

 

national anthems shouldn't even be played before sporting events unless they are international teams playing each other. its the dumbest thing ever and a massive waste of time. 

[BringBackFergy]

I was always told to NOT see skin color...a “black” National anthem seems counter-productive. 

[Penfield45]

imagine if they sung "god save the queen" before every Premier league match 

 

how stupid that would look. 

[Saint Doug]

8 minutes ago, Robert James said:

 

It seems completely appropriate to me.  People across the country are collectively recognizing the centuries-old problem of racial inequity and taking actions to address it. Seventy percent of NFL players are black.  Playing the black national anthem before the first game of this NFL season is a fitting way to acknowledge the problem.  And advocating for greater equality is completely patriotic.

Provide a link to this “black national anthem”, what this “black nation” is, how does one get citizenship for it, and a pathway for other “races” to have one as well and I’m all aboard. 

[klos63]

23 minutes ago, Happy said:

 

Where else is the Black National Anthem played?  I personally have never heard of it, but that could just mean that I've never heard of it.  I am pretty sure it was never played in NFL games in the past, nor is it played at MLB, NHL, and NBA games.

 

So between the BNA and players kneeling through the traditional NA, that will turn a lot of people off.  Stadium attendance dropped off significantly in several stadiums a few years ago when Kapernick started kneeling through the NA.  I would believe it would be no different this time around.  Most people want some tradition, which has made the NFL what it is now.  If anything, don't play any anthem before the games and that will solve a lot of potential problems and controversies.

I totally agree, I'll bet some stadium will be totally empty this season.

Edited July 3, 2020 by klos63

[RiotAct]

1 minute ago, Saint Doug said:

Provide a link to this “black national anthem”, what this “black nation” is, how does one get citizenship for it, and a pathway for other “races” to have one as well and I’m all aboard. 

 

[klos63]

Nothing against the idea of playing the song, but it'll just be another song before the game that i don't pay much attention to.

[Rc2catch]

I don’t care, I purposely start the game 45 minutes late so I can fast forward through commercials and all that stuff anyways. 
Sing whatever you want,  I just wanna see the game with no commercials and no other BS. I don’t even watch the halftime show I go to red zone channel. 

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

Pandering at its finest. Classic Goodell. 
 

Remember how players were getting fined for wearing different colored sweat bands for various Cancer causes? Now we get the rainbow ribbon instead of just pink. The players should be allowed to voice their displeasure with whatever they choose, however they choose. Especially when they are raising money for a cause. 
 

This is the kind of thing that draws even greater divisions between people. 
 

The National Anthem should unify us, and serve as a reminder of all the things that make this country a true blessing. But that’s not possible, not for Roger. 

Edited July 3, 2020 by RobbRiddicksTDLeap

[klos63]

3 minutes ago, Saint Doug said:

Provide a link to this “black national anthem”, what this “black nation” is, how does one get citizenship for it, and a pathway for other “races” to have one as well and I’m all aboard. 

(it's not an official national anthem, some just call it that)

Just now, RobbRiddicksTDLeap said:

Pandering at its finest. Classic Goodell. 
 

Remember how players were getting fined for wearing different colored sweat bands for various Cancer causes? Now we get the rainbow ribbon instead of just pink. 
 

This is the kind of thing that draws even greater divisions between people.
 

The National Anthem should unify us, and serve as a reminder of all the things that make this country a true blessing. But that’s not possible, not for Roger. 

the national anthem is, in part,  about war, for years many have thought it was the wrong song to be our Anthem.

[Beast]

1 minute ago, Jaraxxus said:

No one? Isn't having a nation a prerequisite to having a national anthem?

I guess that doesn’t matter these days. It appears nothing does.

[Beast]

3 minutes ago, klos63 said:

(it's not an official national anthem, some just call it that)

the national anthem is, in part,  about war, for years many have thought it was the wrong song to be our Anthem.

Many?

 

LOL

[SirAndrew]

2 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Does every race in America have a national anthem? I’m curious b/c this is the first time I’ve heard of a black one. 

Yes, white women have Journey music. 

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

8 minutes ago, klos63 said:

the national anthem is, in part,  about war, for years many have thought it was the wrong song to be our Anthem.

It’s about the enduring spirit of American freedom. The flag is a SYMBOL of that freedom. It’s not about war. 
 

Oh, 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:
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave?
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

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, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Lyrics continue below

FEATURED VIDEO

Last.fm's Top Pop Tracks

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 or 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.

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home 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, when 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. 

 

yes, it was written during wartime, a war being fought on newly found American soil. Invaded and defended again, with the blood and spirit of freedom and liberty. People should be taught to embrace this, the way we used to be taught, so that when the flag waves and the words are sung by 75,000 people, that spirit fills us all. That same spirit which allows for a place in the world where people can disagree, and not be persecuted for it.

 

But pandering to the Twitter Mob is easier because people will be appeased, but never satisfied. 

Edited July 3, 2020 by RobbRiddicksTDLeap

[GoBills808]

good job everyone

[Rico]

If I was at a stadium Week 1, I would bring a Wakanda flag with me.

 

[klos63]

3 minutes ago, Beast said:

Many?

 

LOL

Yes, I know quite a few people who feel that way,  and some years ago, it was a pretty popular topic of national conversation.

 

[muppy]

I think there should be one national anthem representing all americans. I am sad that black americans feel so disenfranchised that they must be represented by their own anthem further dividing us rather than working towards a more equitable just America for us all as a colorblind people called Americans....Thats my take. I'd rather there be NO anthem played than 2...horrible idea. Not a fan.

[Mango]

I think this should be boiled down to the nuance of what’s happening. People are upset that the NFL is finally saying that there are systemic racial injustices in this country and some don’t like that they are disagreeing with their POV so publicly. 
 

Call it what it is. This isn’t about a song. 

[PromoTheRobot]

6 minutes ago, Muppy said:

I think there should be one national anthem representing all americans. I am sad that black americans feel so disenfranchised that they must be represented by their own anthem further dividing us rather than working towards a more equitable just America for us all as a colorblind people called Americans....Thats my take. I'd rather there be NO anthem played than 2...horrible idea. Not a fan.

 

What do you think of "God Bless America" sung before games?

[Dopey]

31 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

Idiotic. The implication this creates is that the national anthem is the white anthem all because a subpar QB decided to kneel. 

If it was only about Kaepernick ...But it's not. Donny Boy Trump made it more of a national issue than it ever was, and for that I thank his dumb ass. Someone with Donny Boy's make-up(and I don't mean his orange glow), calling players who kneel "sons a *****' and 'fire them' is rich. Like you said, he's a subpar QB, but Donny Boy gave Kaepernick and his story more legs to run on than he could have imagined.

 

[muppy]

1 minute ago, Mango said:

I think this should be boiled down to the nuance of what’s happening. People are upset that the NFL is finally saying that there are systemic racial injustices in this country and some don’t like that they are disagreeing with their POV so publicly. 
 

Call it what it is. This isn’t about a song. 

I agree in premise to what you are saying but adding a black anthem Makes it about a song...saying the existing song doesn't represent them hence needing their own. The root cause isnt the song but adding one puts the onus ON the song vs making necessary changes so we can be united as Americans under One anthem. The idea of a second anthem  makes me sad. If they do add this I'd stand for both but it still makes me feel divided not United. Which may be their point but will it help institute change? 

[Motorin']

59 minutes ago, Beast said:

It’s stupid.

 

Just like playing a white NA would be stupid.

You mean the Star Spangled Banner? 

[RaoulDuke79]

Let's all rise up together and ...................................................... 

...................................................... 

...................................................... 

...................................................... 

B word and complain about the country we live in, where we can post freely on a message board using high speed wifi,  in a house with AC, running water and heat. If these things aren't available to you, there are subsidies that will help you.........but somehow there is a problem with the National Anthem.  ? off.

[muppy]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

What do you think of "God Bless America" sung before games?

I wouldn't object to that but many athiests would hence I doubt that'd fly.

[Motorin']

56 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

Idiotic. The implication this creates is that the national anthem is the white anthem all because a subpar QB decided to kneel. 

That's not really an implication. It's pretty much historically accurate. Black people didn't have rights as citizens when the national anthem was written, and there's an unsung verse that threatens black people with death who fought for their freedom against slavery. 

 

Black people had 0 input into what the national anthem should be, and it was only enacted as the national anthem by executive order of a KKK admiring democratic president.

 

Playing the song in question, which is deeply spiritual and far more Christian than Francis Scott Keys tune is no different than singing God Bless America before a game...

 

The third verse is very poignant:

 

God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light
Keep us forever in the path, we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee
Shadowed beneath Thy hand
May we forever stand
True to our God
True to our native land

 

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Motorin'

[Beast]

17 minutes ago, klos63 said:

Yes, I know quite a few people who feel that way,  and some years ago, it was a pretty popular topic of national conversation.

 

How many years ago?

[Mike in Horseheads]

Hilarious thats all I can say. I gave it no longer than 2 pages for his thread and lost.

... Just quit playing it before games. Do you walk into your job and stop everything for the national anthem?

[Dopey]

7 minutes ago, Muppy said:

I think there should be one national anthem representing all americans. I am sad that black americans feel so disenfranchised that they must be represented by their own anthem further dividing us rather than working towards a more equitable just America for us all as a colorblind people called Americans....Thats my take. I'd rather there be NO anthem played than 2...horrible idea. Not a fan.

Takes two to tangle. Colored folks have been trying to bring to notice how inequitable this country has been for a long time...to deaf ears. A black national anthem is not going to further divide us, if we feel this movement is just. The encouraging part is there seems to be a lot more non-blacks protesting, including more white folk.

[Rico]

Really, it's all good. This is just another thing that makes it crystal clear as to which side you want to stand on, and overall choices become easier.