Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen expressed anger at the crowd who did not stand during the Black national anthem at Super Bowl III.
“Very few people stood at the Super Bowl for ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ for the Black National Anthem. Things in the Super Bowl crowd aren’t very good,” Cohen complained about X.
The Super Bowl was held for the second year in a row on Sunday, and ballads were played live on the field for the big game. This poem was sung by Andra Day and received a great response from the audience.
The Black National Anthem was composed by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson in the late 19th century as an anthem for the freedom and faith of African Americans.
Cohen is Jewish and represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. So 66.8% are black.. He is the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.
“I support both positions. And in Memphis, most people do,” Cohen responded when one X user criticized him. [sic] Use of two national anthems.
“I respect the national anthem and I respect it as representing our country and national pride. But when you look at some of the history and the language, it’s connected to slavery and it’s something that makes me question it. “It’s not,” he later explained.
Prior to last year’s Super Bowl, when the NFL first officially played the anthem live on the field before kickoff, the league had played the Black National Anthem at other games as well.
For years, the NFL has been mired in controversy over players kneeling during the national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner.
In 2018, the NFL began banning players from kneeling during the national anthem or remaining in the locker room if they have a problem.
A group of black athletes, including former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, kneeled during the national anthem to protest the treatment of black Americans in the country, sparking a backlash.
Cohen has been controversial in the past for tweets about race relations, including a nonsensical post in 2013.
“I told the African-American tow driver that my week is the father, I did the DNA test instead of the father reporter/fascinating fallout, he said (I don’t know about TN9), you is black!’” he tweeted (as it was called at the time).
He later explained that it was a joke and suggested that black voters considered him one of them.
“It was fun. It was interesting. I had a rough night. What happened was, I drive an ’86 Caddy. A lot of African-Americans drive older cars. However, and this is a stereotype, many African-Americans drive older cars. Cohen later elaborated on MSNBC..
“I have no luck. He drives me, we ditch the car, I come back and talk to him. …He said, ‘Hey, you’re a nigger’ and I took that as a compliment. I hear it all the time in Memphis. Voters don’t see me as a white person, they say, ‘You’re one of us.’ ”
Mr. Cohen had previously fielded a black Democratic primary challenger to his seat. This includes cut-out ads that try to link him to the Klu Klux Klan.. He has been a member of Congress since 2007.
