The NFL recently sparked outrage among conservatives after announcing this year’s Super Bowl would feature a performance of the “black national anthem.” Reportedly, the Grammy-winning R&B singer Andra Day will perform the alternative anthem.
The song was first performed alongside the Star Spangled Banner at NFL games in 2020 and has been featured in Super Bowls since then. Following the announcement that it would appear this year, the NFL has faced harsh criticism from fans arguing the anthem is divisive rather than unifying.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk commented on the “black national anthem,” opining that it is intended to be racially divisive. Kirk added that the Star Spangled Banner is already an all-encompassing anthem for Americans to unite behind.
“The NFL has announced that the so-called ‘Black National Anthem’ will be performed at the Super Bowl. Of course, in reality, the black national anthem is performed at every Super Bowl, because The Star-Spangled Banner is the anthem of ALL Americans. The effort to create a ‘black national anthem,’ and a ‘black Independence Day’ in Juneteenth, is part of a wider project to divide Americans up by race,” Kirk posted on X.
Others argued that the alternative anthem is designed to propagate a sense of anti-white racism. “The NFL is evidently continuing to perpetuate antiwhiteism and division during this year’s Super Bowl. If that’s what you support then enjoy watching. I certainly won’t,” Paul A. Szypula wrote on X.
Another person called angry fans to boycott the NFL to demonstrate their frustration. Last year, conservatives proved they can effectively organize boycotts, as shown by the Bud Light and Target controversies.
“Fans have only themselves to blame. An organized boycott will stop this nonsense within a few short weeks. Instead of moaning about it, use your reach to organize a boycott and explain to the NFL what it has to do to get its audience back,” said Biff Gruffly.
Another X user detailed how the NFL’s involvement in the culture war has pushed him away from the sport entirely. “And once again, one of the many reasons, I no longer watch the NFL, or am even interested. I am not the audience they are pandering to. I believe in unity and the NFL is not the for the same thing,’ wrote Benjamin Hinson.
Another person shared a similar sentiment to Hinson, turned off by the NFL’s divisive racial politics. “I’m probably done with the NFL. We have a National Anthem that represents us as the great American melting pot. To take that and now create an anthem for one single racial group is a slap in the face of every other ethnicity and to our country,” they added.
Conservative personality Lavern Spicer explained how the Star Spangled Banner should be everyone’s anthem regardless of ethnicity. “The Black National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The White National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The Mixed National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner,” she wrote on X. “If you live in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, your National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner.”
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