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Three ThingsPolitics, Religion and Money. Forum for discussing topics that usually always end up in a flaming heap. Read this before posting!
DENVER - The State of the City address Tuesday started with all the traditional hallmarks of a civic function.
The Pledge of Allegiance, the presentation of the colors.
And then Rene Marie was introduced to sign the national anthem.
Instead of the "Star-Spangled Banner,", the crowd heard "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," sometimes called the "Black National Anthem," first sung as a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday 108-years ago.
Marie sang the lyrics to the tune of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
Mayor John Hickenlooper says, at first, he was offended.
"We were as surprised as anyone and she didn't tell anyone, she made this decision with her husband, her musical mentor and decided just to do an artistic expression and she kind of wove the two songs together," he said.
Marie says she meant no disrespect and wasn't trying to make a political statement.
"I decided to sing my version. What was going on in my head was, I wanted to express how I feel about living in the United States as a black woman." She went on to say she "wouldn't change a thing" about the performance.
Hickenlooper said she did apologize for making the change.
But still, the choice set-off a firestorm of controversy and criticism. Councilman Charlie Brown said the address was "not an NAACP convention."
Nationally-syndicated conservative writer Michelle Malkin called it "racial separatism at an official government gathering."
That frustrates the mayor, because now the focus is on the song and not his vision for the city for the future.
"You know, in retrospect, as bad as my voice is, I probably should have sang the 'Star Spangled Banner' myself."
__________________
You and me and the devil makes three ~ Don't need no other lovin' baby...
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I am all for freedom, freedom of choice, speech etc...
When a group hires you whether paid or not to perform a specific service and you pull off your own agenda thats just wrong.
You blindside people, you almost lie to them. Sounds like a big publicity stunt to me.
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She wasn't paid, but it was an honor to be asked (IMO) and the publicity of her performance would have been something. She decided to amp the publicity a bit, it seems, to put herself and her immaturity center stage. This was a ceremony to honor workers and she made it a showcase for her career. If she "no longer sings the national anthem, she should have bowed out of the situation, not pulled a "switcheroonie."
"Subbed anthem lyrics draw some red glares"
(here are a few paragraphs from the article)
Marie said she made the change without informing the mayor's office, which had expected her to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"I pulled a switcheroonie on them," Marie said later.
She explained that she decided months ago to switch the lyrics because she will no longer sing the national anthem.
She said that she made the decision after a Russian broadcaster interviewed her and asked her what it was like to be an American.
At that moment, she said, she realized that as an African-American she at times feels like a foreigner in her home country.
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She wasn't paid, but it was an honor to be asked (IMO) and the publicity of her performance would have been something. She decided to amp the publicity a bit, it seems, to put herself and her immaturity center stage. This was a ceremony to honor workers and she made it a showcase for her career. If she "no longer sings the national anthem, she should have bowed out of the situation, not pulled a "switcheroonie."
"Subbed anthem lyrics draw some red glares"
(here are a few paragraphs from the article)
Marie said she made the change without informing the mayor's office, which had expected her to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"I pulled a switcheroonie on them," Marie said later.
She explained that she decided months ago to switch the lyrics because she will no longer sing the national anthem.
She said that she made the decision after a Russian broadcaster interviewed her and asked her what it was like to be an American.
At that moment, she said, she realized that as an African-American she at times feels like a foreigner in her home country.
Well, truth be told we are all foreigners in America. I get it, there are racist everywhere. Some people are just un-enlightened. I have at times felt like an outcast for whatever reason. I have discovered with soul searching, no one can make me feel anything less than human and their issues are their's alone. Whether race, sex, religion, class, etc... The assholes that don't get that are the sad ones. And I keep on getting on with life...
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I can see it now. The ball game will start I two hours. Right after the singing of the american national anthem, the black national anthem, the mexican national anthem, the canadian national anthem, the honduran national anthem, the indian national anthem, the french national anthem, the russian national anthem, etc. I'm not saying people should forsake their heritage but we should respect our culture. The national anthem is meant to unify. Especially since it follows a pledge to one nation indivisible. When will people realize those who practice their heritage in private and abandon it in public in favor of the conservative culture succede in this country and those who don't fail.
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I hate to be forced into a position of agreeance with Malkin, but...I agree.
Not only was this woman's poor choice a question of professional ethics (you don't make unagreed upon changes), but it was racial separatism.
That's the problem with the "diversity" movement. Any collectivist idea like that only acts against itself. In trying to include everyone, it must define who "everyone" is, thus magnifying the differences between separate factions of the populace.
This is where nobley attempting to level the playing field fails us. By giving specific groups benefits, we are identifying them as different. We are saying, "the government sees you as different, less able," and this, in turn, causes people to consider themselves defined by their classification. This woman is a perfect example. She talks about what it feels like to be a "black" "woman" in America. What about what it feels like to be an American? Until we shed this motivation to qualify ourselves with identifying labels, we will never be over racism, sexism, and any other bigotry that society continues to struggle with.
We are all individuals. We shouldn't let our desire to belong to a group override that fact.
__________________ "Now that ceaseless exposure has calloused us to the lewd and the vulgar, it is instructive to see what still seems wicked to us. What still slaps the clammy flab of our submissive consciousness hard enough to get our attention?"
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July 2nd, 2008, 09:22 PM
Woman sings "Black National Anthem" at State of City address
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