I checked the news to see what was happening in Puerto Rico, curious to know when the millions of fellow citizens who live there might get electric power back, for example. The leading headlines, however, were all about football players refusing to stand for the national anthem and Donald Trump offering his opinion regarding this behavior. (To Americans who worship their president as a demigod on Earth, of course it was very exciting to receive President Trump’s opinion!)
This leads me to ask… if Americans are going to fight about how to behave during the national anthem at football games, why play the anthem at all? Football is not a governmental ceremony, right? It is plainly possible to play an epic game of football without first hearing the “Star-Spangled Banner” because that’s precisely what happens at the Cleary family’s vacation home in The Wedding Crashers. What happens in other countries? Are national anthems played before European soccer games, for example?
[Separately, folks who refuse to respect the U.S. national anthem as a protest against the treatment of black Americans might be on the right track. Slavery in Europe had ended by 1000. Britain abolished slavery throughout its empire in 1833 (Wikipedia). If the American Revolution had never occurred, in which case we’d not have our own anthem, black Americans would have escaped at least one generation of slavery. On the third hand, do these anti-American football players have a practical plan for re-joining the United Kingdom?]
Canadians do the anthem at hockey games but other than that nobody else does it for domestic games, to my knowledge. Way before the recent brouhaha I had remarked a few times that the anthem at baseball and football games is a little weird. The remark tended to upset people. Americans like the anthem at their games. It’s not going anywhere.
What is obscene is making children recite the pledge of allegiance. In my youth, not only did we have to recite it, but there were lessons about what it meant and what a worthless human you would be if after giving your (coerced) pledge, you were to someday break it.
It is the same with the anthem. Some sing willingly, but many sing because we live in a tyranny (of white christian bigots) where being different is always a handicap and sometimes a death sentence.
According to the Ken Burns documentary series “Baseball”, the first instance of playing the national anthem at a professional baseball game occurred somewhat spontaneously during our brief involvement in WW1, and the idea/practice quickly spread.
@ZZAZZ
If you think children should not recite the pledge of allegiance or learn the history behind it, then our arms forces can use that as pretext to not recite or pledge to the flag and country when they are enlisted. And soon after that, immigrants will do the same and insist that they become US citizen without the pledge.
@Philg
Based on this [1], playing the national anthem at sporting event was something started by accident and WWII made it popular to give the feeling of patriotic. Other then that, it has no value, but don’t expect it to go away especially now given how molded it is with sports events (fireworks, flying jets, veterans on the field, etc.)
[1] http://mentalfloss.com/article/18997/why-do-we-sing-national-anthem-sporting-events
> we live in a tyranny (of white christian bigots)
I have a dream!
“black Americans might be on the right track. Slavery in Europe had ended by 1000. Britain abolished slavery throughout its empire in 1833 (Wikipedia). If the American Revolution had never occurred, in which case we’d not have our own anthem, black Americans would have escaped at least one generation of slavery. ”
It is really hard to tell what would happen if george Washington lost the war. Slavery was definitely one of the cards British played in Americas and without War of Indepnedence Brittain would have a lot of less incencitives to abolish slavery, one of them being sticking it to USA. On other hand slavery was under fire since war of independence in the USA, it was undertood that it had to go, hence ‘pursuit of happiness’ and not ‘property’ in Decalration of Indepnedence, due to the fact that slavery was wrongfully mixed into property rights during that times, and need for many compromises later on. Since founding of the USA many of the founders and many among of United States pionered fight against slavery while it was accepted in British empire. Similar with women rights – Wyoming had allowed women vote in general elections before it became a right in Europe.
recently watched French president Emmanuel Macron listening to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise at the opening of a “football” match at “le Stade de France” and I don’t think it was played due to Nov 2015 terror attack at that location. (this was courtesy of Facebook Live)
“If the American Revolution had never occurred… black Americans would have escaped at least one generation of slavery.”
There is no evidence for that statement.
Most countries in Europe do NOT play their anthem at domestic sports events. (In most cases only when two countries are playing, and then they play the anthem for both.)
Liga Mexico futbol (soccer) plays the Mexican anthem before most games.
@Tiago you’re probably correct – in any event, the “match de foot” at which I saw La Marseillaise played was France (Les Bleus) v. the Netherlands: ww.closermag.fr/politique/emmanuel-macron-se-la-joue-coach-dans-le-vestiaire-de-l-equipe-de-france-743418
Here in Australia, playing the National Anthem only occurs at very special sporting events , such as “Finals”, and therefore is generally only played once or twice in a football or cricket season.
“Are national anthems played before European soccer games, for example?”
Only if the match is between different national teams.
Yes, other countries do play their national anthem. In England when they played the national anthem our team stood up for their national anthem but knelt for our national anthem. Great guys.. Disgusting.