Tennessee Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen, who is white, was furious that Super Bowl fans did not stand for what he called the “Negro National Anthem” during Sunday night’s big game.
As with the last few championship games, the NFL opened the Super Bowl with “Life Every Voice and Sing,” a song that many agitators claim is the “Negro national anthem.”
Of course, it’s not a “national anthem” at all, but nevertheless, video of fans in the stands while R&B singer Andra Day performed the popular song revealed that few people were standing, according to Rep. Cohen. was not satisfied.
He immediately took to his X account to reprimand fans.
“Few people stood at the Super Bowl for ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ for the Black National Anthem. The look of the Super Bowl crowd was never pretty,” he wrote.
Very few people stood for “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the Super Bowl.
black national anthem.
It’s not a pretty photo of a Super Bowl crowd. ,— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) February 11, 2024
Aside from Cohen’s bizarre “negro” expressions, which may make some wonder if he wrote this while sitting at a Walgreens lunch counter, his He was immediately condemned by those who opposed his premise that people should stand inside.
Cohen yelled back at his detractors, claiming he supports both songs, adding, oddly, that “almost everyone in Memphis does.”
I support both. And in Memphis, most people support it.
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) February 12, 2024
Cohen also promoted the false claim that “The Star-Spangled Banner” contained “representations” that were “associated with slavery.”
“Well, I respect the national anthem and I respect it as a representation of our country and national pride,” Cohen responded to one X poster. “But if you look at some of the history and the language, it’s connected to slavery and it’s not something to question.”
Cohen is wrong. There was nothing in the national anthem that “concerned” America’s practice of chattel slavery.
In fact, the song once had a third verse that included the lyrics, “From the terror of flight and the darkness of the grave, there was no refuge for the hireling and the slave.”
However, this passage referred to the Royal Navy’s practice of kidnapping American sailors (known as impressions) and forcing them to serve in the Royal Navy. It was not a reference to America’s “peculiar system.” Impressions were one of the main factors in his War of 1812, and this song was written to record it.
Additionally, it was no longer part of the song when it became the national anthem in the 1930s. By the 1860s it was obsolete, and by 1931 few people even knew it existed.
Even left-wing sites Snopes.com He states that the claim that the poem refers to chattel slavery in America is actually untenable.
So not only is Sen. Cohen ignorant of American history, he is intentionally using this song to divide America.
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