The U.S. Open did not play the U.S. national anthem during the women’s or men’s finals last weekend.
The anthem went missing in New York as the games found its two victors, Coco Gauff, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to earn the first Grand Slam title of her career in the women’s category, and in the men’s, Novak Djokovic, who defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
While turning its back on the national anthem, U.S. Open organizers were excited to announce that it would play the so-called black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” ahead of the men’s singles championship, Fox News reported.
The Open did play that national anthem for its opening ceremonies.
Former ESPN analyst Sage Steele blasted the U.S. Open for dumping the national anthem, saying, “Ahhh… the irony of refusing to allow our national anthem … at the *US* Open. I remain hopeful that we can get back to truly appreciating the greatness of America, but man…this is sad.”
Ahhh… the irony of refusing to allow our national anthem … at the *US* Open.
I remain hopeful that we can get back to truly appreciating the greatness of America, but man…this is sad. https://t.co/NboLB2zHEL— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) September 11, 2023
In recent years, leftists have attacked the Star-Spangled Banner, falsely claiming it has lyrics extolling slavery.
The word slave does appear in the song’s third verse but is rarely, if ever, played.
However, few reputable historians substantiate any interpretation of the verse that claims it is a supporter of slavery.
A large American flag is displayed over the court as American operatic baritone Will Liverman performs “America The Beautiful” prior to the Men’s Singles Final match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Day Fourteen of the 2023 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 10, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Elsa/Getty Images)
The claim has been ridiculed by many historians, who say the words actually referred to the British Navy’s practice of impressing American sailors into serving the Crown, essentially making them slaves to the British Navy. That practice, known at the time as impressment, was one of the main causes of the war. In addition, large numbers of black soldiers were fighting for the U.S. during the war, which sparked Francis Scott Key’s writing the tune, and Key was aware of that.
Even a 2016 Snopes article said the claim that the verse celebrates chattel slavery is hardly a foregone conclusion and that many historians dismiss the connection to America’s slaving practices.
A further point tends to debunk the “slavery” claim about the song. The version of the song officially enshrined as our national anthem does not even contain the purportedly offensive verse. The verse had been written out of the song during the decades following the Civil War and up to the time it became our official anthem in 1931. So, the “slavery” verse was long gone before Congress ever adopted the song as our national anthem.
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