Some say it is a sure sign of his racism because it glories in the fear and death of slaves brought about by the American victory. In the last three years much has been said about Francis Scott Key’s use of the phrase “hirelings and slaves” in the third verse of the the Star Spangled Banner, or the Defence of Fort M’Henry as written by Key. There is no right or wrong approach between the two, science and humanities, there are simply problems better suited for one than the other.Ī current issue particularly suited to the humanities is: What people were Francis Scott Key referring to in the third stanza of our National Anthem when he says “…No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.” ?ĬAPTION: Screen capture of Key’s third stanza of the Defence of Fort M’Henry We seek verisimilar, or seemingly real, solutions based on narrative evidence placed within the context of the human experience. Whereas the sciences provide solutions that are exact and can be supported by statistical evidence generalized to the much larger population, the humanities simply aim to provide a solution that seems logical and correct. Whereas the sciences are particularly adept at finding solutions to problems involving variables that can be measured, controlled, and manipulated the humanities seek solutions that seem best to fit the known facts. As such, we excel at moderating problems involving humans: messy problems, nuanced problems, and complex problems. As a card carrying historian I can say we in the humanities find comfort in gray– from charcoal to fog. If you are looking for a black & white solution to a problem involving humans and our society, don’t come to the humanities. With good editing I probably could have gotten down to 1500 words, but the poem was published in 1814. The measures that the NFL has since announced includes pledging $250 million over the next 10 years to combat systemic racism and recognising Juneteenth as an official holiday.CAPTION: Title of an online article from the CATO Institute addressing current charges that Key’s use of the word slave in his third stanza of his poem is racist.īefore you start this long blog article, know that it is 1814 words in length. Trump lashed out at the decision, calling it “disrespecting our country and our flag”. This year, after several prominent athletes pressured the NFL to change its stance after Floyd’s death, the sporting body finally relented, acknowledging it had made mistakes. Many conservatives including President Donald Trump railed against the practice, and in May 2018 the NFL stopped in its tracks before introducing a policy to fine teams if their players did not stand for the anthem. Key, who served as a government lawyer after the war, used his position to defend slavery and attack the abolitionist movement, notes an article in the Smithsonian Magazine. Many find the lines in the third stanza of the song– “No refuge could save the hireling and slave/From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave”– to be directed against the enslaved people who fought against the American side. It was made the country’s national anthem by the US Congress in 1931.ĭuring the War of 1812, thousands of enslaved African Americans had joined hands with the British, who had promised them freedom. “The Star-Spangled Banner”, which commemorates the hard-fought American victory over British troops at Baltimore during the War of 1812, was written by Francis Scott Key– a slave-owning lawyer known for his racist views. Criticism of the American national anthem In 1919, the prominent civil rights organisation The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed the spiritual song “the Negro national hymn”.Īccording to an opinion piece in The New York Times by Pulitzer-winning journalist Brent Staples, since the early decades of the 20th century, when racial segregation was widely implemented in the American South, black communities would play “Lift Every Voice and Sing” instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at churches, civic events, and schools as an act of protest against the country’s racist policies. The aspirational hymn expresses a message of hope while addressing the horrors of slavery that African American populations had to endure for centuries its abolition in 1865. Written by the African American poet, scholar, and diplomat James Weldon Johnson in 1900, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was first performed as part of a celebration of former president Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
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