Current Events > Is the National Anthem a pro-slavery song?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Genuinely curious what CE thinks

the person who wrote it was pro-slavery, and one of the original verses was, too.
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boxington posted...

the person who wrote it was pro-slavery, and one of the original verses was, too.

What was the excised verse?

What the fuck kind of question is this and who the fuck would unironically vote yes?
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Skye Reynolds posted...

boxington posted...

the person who wrote it was pro-slavery, and one of the original verses was, too.

What was the excised verse?

this is the important part:

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
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It's not an original verse, it's literally the third stanza:

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 washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-08-30/historians-disagree-whether-star-spangled-banner-racist

Francis Scott Key was happy to see former slaves, who had joined the British as part of their Colonial Marines, getting slaughtered and killed as they attempted to take Baltimore

The entire song sort of leads up to this point where hes essentially saying to these terrible, ungrateful, black people, this is the consequence of standing up against the United States.
So its clearly racist; its clearly pro-slavery, but its pretty much in line with the kind of man that Francis Scott Key was.

Key was a typical white Marylander of his time, and he favored slavery. Key himself faced the black Colonial Marines in battle. His unit was beaten and humiliated by them.
His troops were slaughtered so aggressively that he had to run home and hide in Washington DC. ... So this was personal for him.

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With or without the implied racism, I for one am glad that I don't have to stand for that entire thing.

<___<

Geez people will find anything to complain about. Don't you have actual problems in your life or are you so privileged that an anthem triggers you?
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NINExATExSEVEN posted...

Geez people will find anything to complain about. Don't you have actual problems in your life or are you so privileged that an anthem triggers you?

You answered your own question.
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I love our national anthem. Leave it alone please.
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NINExATExSEVEN posted...

Geez people will find anything to complain about. Don't you have actual problems in your life or are you so privileged that an anthem triggers you?

Jeez, people hate being offended, I did not know you were immune to this emotional response. You are so ******* cool man.
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UncleBourbon33 posted...

I love our national anthem. Leave it alone please.

why? It's pure garbage. I don't think it's pro-slavery, but the tune is so disgustingly basic that a 4 year old could have "composed" it. Granted, this is true for most if not all national anthems, so I'm not saying other countries have done better. Still, taking frequent diarrhea shits on musical theory should not qualify a person to write a literal national anthem. That's just fucked up.
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NINExATExSEVEN posted...

Geez people will find anything to complain about. Don't you have actual problems in your life or are you so privileged that an anthem triggers you?

The anthem really isn't a good choice for our national song. It's a tradition yes but not liking it has nothing to do with being triggered.
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Skye Reynolds posted...

With or without the implied racism, I for one am glad that I don't have to stand for that entire thing.

<___<

Me too
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ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

UncleBourbon33 posted...

I love our national anthem. Leave it alone please.

why? It's pure garbage. I don't think it's pro-slavery, but the tune is so disgustingly basic that a 4 year old could have "composed" it. Granted, this is true for most if not all national anthems, so I'm not saying other countries have done better. Still, taking frequent diarrhea shits on musical theory should not qualify a person to write a literal national anthem. That's just fucked up.

Are you an expert on music?
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Personally, I don't think the excised stanza should have any bearing. We took the first stanza, which typified all that America stands for, and left behind the parts which didn't speak for all of us.

There's an old adage that you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. I think that applies here.

UncleBourbon33 posted...

ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

UncleBourbon33 posted...

I love our national anthem. Leave it alone please.

why? It's pure garbage. I don't think it's pro-slavery, but the tune is so disgustingly basic that a 4 year old could have "composed" it. Granted, this is true for most if not all national anthems, so I'm not saying other countries have done better. Still, taking frequent diarrhea shits on musical theory should not qualify a person to write a literal national anthem. That's just fucked up.

Are you an expert on music?

no, but he is gonna shit talk next for even more "cool points"
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Roxborough4Ever posted...

UncleBourbon33 posted...

ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

UncleBourbon33 posted...

I love our national anthem. Leave it alone please.

why? It's pure garbage. I don't think it's pro-slavery, but the tune is so disgustingly basic that a 4 year old could have "composed" it. Granted, this is true for most if not all national anthems, so I'm not saying other countries have done better. Still, taking frequent diarrhea shits on musical theory should not qualify a person to write a literal national anthem. That's just fucked up.

Are you an expert on music?

no, but he is gonna shit talk next for even more "cool points"

What's cool points?
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GregShmedley posted...

UncleBourbon33 posted...

ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

UncleBourbon33 posted...

I love our national anthem. Leave it alone please.

why? It's pure garbage. I don't think it's pro-slavery, but the tune is so disgustingly basic that a 4 year old could have "composed" it. Granted, this is true for most if not all national anthems, so I'm not saying other countries have done better. Still, taking frequent diarrhea shits on musical theory should not qualify a person to write a literal national anthem. That's just fucked up.

Are you an expert on music?

Nah, he's just a low effort troll.

On topic, I definitely feel some type of way after reading into the history of the anthem. And I say this as someone who stands (and believes in the right to sit, even if I disagree with the act).

Nope. National anthems are bland and boring musically. They're basically nickelback
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I would say we could change the anthem, but the obvious choice for a replacement is pro-slavery as well.

The Internet (Fuck Yeah!)
Slavery (Fuck Yeah!)

Fuck Yeah!

ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

It's a British melody.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacreontic_Society
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