So they have a point with this third stanza interpretation:
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And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
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The majority of Americans are of course patriotic and supportive our country, and supportive of our military and young men and women, who for generations have placed their lives on the line to keep this the greatest country and most free country on earth. Some have got upset with a handful of folks for refusing to stand and honor America, and the troops who have fought, died and battled to protect us,
So I have a grand idea. How about this - when the nation anthem is sung all over America, how about if they don't sing that 3rd paragraph, and listen to those complaining, and sing the anthem without that verse? Everyone is welcome to be patriotic and honor America and our troops and Old Glory. And then many of those complaining will also get their way and those set of lyrics won't be sang at any events. Every time I have heard those lines sang at such events it has always angered me anyway.
But wait...
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Group Calling National Anthem Lyrics Racist, Anti-Black
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The California NAACP is pushing to get rid of the national anthem that they’re calling racist and anti-black.
“This song is wrong; it shouldn’t have been there, we didn’t have it ’til 1931, so it won’t kill us if it goes away,” said the organization’s president Alice Huffman.
Colin Kaepernick started the NFL protests, which quickly spread to bring attention to systemic racial injustice in the country. But Huffman says Kaepernick’s message was lost when it turned into a debate about the flag.
“The message got distorted, the real intentions got overlooked, it became something that’s dividing us, and I’m looking for something to bring us back together,” she said.
Huffman adds that the protests did lead her to look at the lyrics of the “Star Spangled Banner” especially the parts of the anthem we don’t typically sing.
“It’s racist; it doesn’t represent our community, it’s anti-black,” she said.
Huffman is referring to the third stanza which includes the lyric “no refuge could save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”
Rest -
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/...anthem-racist/