The Black National Anthem
What's really wrong with the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing"?
Before the Super Bowl this past Sunday, Sheryl Lee Ralph sang a rendition of the hymn,“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has long been dubbed the “Black National Anthem.” The song has generated significant controversy and has been labeled divisive. Supporters insist that it is merely honoring black history and accuse anyone who disagrees of being racist (very original). Once again, we Americans find ourselves sparring over race, bickering over nonsensical issues, and refusing to allow the wounds of the past to heal while we, instead, continue scraping at the scabs and utilizing a gospel hymn, of all things, to do it. Why do we continue to do this to ourselves?
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a beautiful song written by James Weldon Johnson in the year 1900, at a time where racial oppression was very much apparent. Yet, it is a song of hope, faith, love, liberty, and unity - a song that looks to a bright future and leaves behind the “gloomy past.” It is not a song of resentment, vengefulness, or even one of victimhood. And yet, that is how it being used today, in a time when, ironically, racial oppression is nonexistent.
This is the problem. It is not about the song, itself, which is a wonderful song. It is about how the song is being used - and it is currently being used to drive racial division and enmity. By embracing the term, “the black national anthem” and intentionally placing the song before a game where the normal national anthem is sung, you are sending a clear message - “black people should be seen as separate from normal Americans and must be coddled as such.”
This tweet from a man who calls himself “Free” responding to Laura Loomer exemplifies this:
In response to Loomer calling the black national anthem divisive and racist, Free says, “Let me school you since you didn’t take the time to research before you opened your mouth. This is a hymn that was written in 1900. It was sung by black Christians at a time when blacks were not even considered human by their own nation. We relied on God and that hymn is a testament to our reliance on him. The NAACP dubbed it the “Black National Anthem” in 1919. Again, at a time when we were treated as less than human. We relied on God and that song is a testament to that reliance. In your attempt to get clicks you denigrated a beautiful praise offering to our Heavenly Father and a powerful reminder of black perseverance. I’d say “shame on you” but you clearly have no shame.”
Grievance. Victimhood. Resentment. All of it couched in a twisted version of Christianity. This has been my primary problem with racial identity politics. There is never anything positive about it. It is always, 100% of the time, rooted in grievance and enmity. Everything considered to be positive of the supposed black identity has to do with victimhood. It’s pathological. We continue to perpetuate these images and notions of racial oppression and continue to drive wedges of division between racial groups for no actual reason other than the fact that it directly benefits the grievance-mongers who do it. These are the people who Booker T. Washington was referring to when he said that there is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the patient to get well because as long as the disease persists, they have an easy way of making a living as well as an easy way of making themselves prominent before the public. That’s what the song was doing. That’s what the proponents of the song were doing. That’s why they chose to sing this song and why they chose to sing it when they did. It is to perpetuate the notion of black victimhood and to keep the disease of racial division and enmity from ever being cured. In a world of Critical Race Theory, Black Lives Matter, DEI, and Antiracism, trying to pretend that this was nothing more than an expression of faith and hope is laughable. These people are intentional about driving racial resentment, animosity, and division and they use things like this as tools for manipulation. Let’s not be naïve.
My friend, Adam Coleman, tweeted this today:
He says, “74% of black Americans see their race as very to extremely important to their identity (Pew Research). Republicans, it doesn’t help you to tell black people to change this while trying to get their vote. We’re capable of being proud of being black AND American.”
I very much respect Mr. Coleman, but I believe he is missing something substantial here and it is closely related to the black national anthem and black history month, itself. Let me say first that I do not believe that truth should be sacrificed for the sake of political expediency. It does not matter what does or does not help Republicans if it means abandoning truth to do it. And the truth is that racial identity obsession is a toxic practice. It is appalling to me that 3 out of 4 black people consider race to be central to who they are, particularly in a world when everyone else is told that it is extremely racist to see race as central to who they are. You will be excoriated and likely have your life destroyed if you are a white person who sees race as central to your identity or central to a black person’s identity. And yet, it is acceptable for most black people to see race as extremely important to who they are. How does that make sense? Mr. Coleman claims that you can be proud of being black AND American but I’m not convinced that’s true. Because if you see yourself primarily as an American, then being black (whatever that means) should have little relevance and you will not feel the need to have a wall of separation between you and your fellow Americans based on race. You would not need to promote a separate history or a separate culture or a separate church or separate schools or a separate national anthem. How can you embrace yourself as an American when you demand to be your own separate entity?
Of course, the rebuttal to that would be that there was a time in this country where black Americans did not have a choice in this matter. They were treated as separate entities and were forced to have their own history, culture, church, schools, and anthem. There was a time in this country when black people were not treated as Americans but as foreigners who did not belong. I understand that. But the year 1900, when “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was written, was 123 years ago. So, my question is, how much longer are we going to do this?
Free used words like “we” when talking about the oppression of the past and I have noticed many black people do this. This sense of collective victimhood and collective guilt permeates racial identity politics, attempting to punish people for things they didn’t do or claim some sort of recompense for things they never experienced. I like to compare it to the concept of stolen valor. It is attempting to benefit from someone else’s suffering. It also exemplifies the fact that those who elevate race to such an significant level of importance in their lives, open themselves up to manipulation by the media and politicians. If you think I am wrong about that, look no further than the response to George Floyd and ask yourself what evidence there is that what happened with Floyd had anything to do with race. There is none. Not a single iota of evidence exists that what happened had anything whatsoever to do with race. The only “evidence” that seems to matter is the races of those involved. Manipulation. What about the five police officers in Memphis who killed Tyre Nichols? We were told that was a result of white supremacy even though every single person involved was black. What about Kyle Rittenhouse? We were told that case was a clear example of white supremacy and racial injustice even though everyone involved was white. This is unequivocal manipulation of people who think race is central to who they are and who identify deeply with racial oppression. In a world where race is not central to identity, particularly an identity rooted in victimhood, such manipulative tactics would be wildly ineffective and thus, the people who promote them would have no real power and influence. Unfortunately, far too many people allow themselves to be manipulated by the siren song of racial grievance. There is a strong incentive to do everything possible to keep the patient from ever getting well.
I say it often but I am not convinced it can repeated often enough - it’s long past time to let go of racial identity and the grievance politics that inherently accompany it. I am tired of the obsession with race and I’m tired of talking about it. It does nothing but cause chaos, division, and destruction. I fully recognize that horrible things happened in the past, but at some point, we have to let go of the past and look to the future, let go of these nonsensical ideas of collective guilt and collective victimhood and move forward, together. At some point, we have to decide that we are all Americans and embrace each other as fellow countrymen. At some point, we have to stop acting like we are completely separate people with completely separate histories and recognize that there is no black history, there is no brown history, and there is no white history - there is only American history. At some point, we have to let the wounds of the past heal, and stand together as one people, as one nation, with our hands over our hearts singing one national anthem. That’s true progressivism.
Thanks for this Leonydus. Have been trying to put my finger on why this whole thing has been bothering me. You've summed it up well.
Grievance, like so many things in our culture, has been monetized and is an industry now. It employs many people and pays some of them with money, and many others with dubious psychological crutches. Worst of all, it's an extraordinarily narrow lens through which to look at oneself, others, and the world - a sort of ant's eye view.
We can and should be many things, as well as members of a given ethnic group; you don't have to choose just one and try to live there. You can look through the eyes of a parent, a craftsperson, a doctor, a cook, a scholar, a gardener, an artist, an historian, a teacher, a janitor, a dancer . . . it's a big world and we can participate in so much. Deciding to live solely within your racial identity is a bit like deciding to see only the color blue - a sad, fruitless, and entirely unnecessary diminishment of what it means to be fully human.