| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 7:00:26 AM | Controversy after singer substitutes 'black national anthem' for 'Star-Spangled Banner'
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/856065/rene_marie_stuns_denver_with_black.html?cat=9
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/controversy-aft.html
Any opinions? | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 7:36:37 AM | She was asked to sing the national anthem and she didn't do that. Apparently she switched the songs without informing City Councel who had asked her to sing the national anthem.
Marie tells The Denver Post she decided to switch the lyrics months ago and will no longer sing the national anthem because she sometimes feels like a foreigner in the USA.
Then that's something she has to deal with. IMO, as beautiful and powerful as that song was, it wasn't the place to sing it. This anthem was sang to kick off Mayor John Hickenlooper's State of the City address, who is mayor of a city with people of many colours and races... not just black people. As one person in the article had stated, there are no substitutes for the national anthem. If she didn't want to sing the Star Spangled Banner, then she should have declined to sing anything at all. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 7:37:09 AM | | It's total disrespect... but in this current hate white America atmosphere, I am not surprised. If a white singer did this by doing a "White National Anthem" we would never hear the end of it. This sickens me, and if I had been in attendance, I would have let my outrage be heard. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 7:41:08 AM | I am from the school of thought that"artist interpretation"on the Anthem is not my cup of tea.
It was a poem that was set to music with a particular cadence,a particular set of words and adopted as a symbol of our country as such.There are literally thousands of other ways to pose a differing political thought without altering this.I say go for it in those many other ways.As you might imagine I have very tight thoughts on flag behavior as well.Please leave my flag and Anthem alone!
And for all the Canadian folks....yes....I stand at yours and sing as well when it is a choice. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 8:03:30 AM | | I wonder what the Canadians would have to say had a similar situation happend with their "O' Canada" Anthem? | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 8:10:21 AM | Most of us find it hilarious,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpXzASiXX8U
Don't forget the famous blue jays final where the Americans screwed up and brought out the flag upside down.
Most first world countries don't get nearly as worked up about flag and anthem issues as you do. Europes last experience with rampant nationalism was enough for most to realize that isn't the path to take. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 8:16:55 AM | I think its funny and the lady is very sweet and mischevious. She said, "I pulled the old switcheroo..".
I like the words to the song, too.
No big deal. She just wanted to sing something closer to her heart and mind and that's what she did. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 8:24:36 AM | So you are saying that if you was invited or was payed to sing "Happy birthday" at a childs birthday party and you instead did a swictheroo and sung a song about how "Freddy's the devil" this would be perfectly acceptable and no one should get upset?
She was asked and expected to sing the National Anthem! It was not her choice to do otherwise and therefore didn't keep her word (Contract).
I guess when you win or pay for a Corvette, then it's alright if they deliever a Yugo to you? | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 9:23:44 AM | She just didn't want to sing at any government functions anymore.
So, she pulled the switcheroo. Now she can go back to singing at black panther rallys.
At least once this dies down, no one will ever hear of her again.
Next! | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 9:27:32 AM | while i agree that Marie's choice to switch the lyrics, particularly considering the nature of the event, to lack couthe and social grace...i do understand what motivated her.
it was a bold move on her part. personally, i think she could have found a more appropriate medium and venue to air her political agenda. the manner that she used is ineffective and only serves to further alienate communities that already struggle to see eye to eye, to understand and respect one another. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 9:45:09 AM |
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee. Had she replaced wine with beer people would have been all for it. She is a beverage traitor.
If Obama gets elected expect more of this. I fear we might see a day when artists break free of the shackles of routine duty, waking up audiences from the comfy slumber of routine. Tradition over progress, I say. And dare I add: Uppity! | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 10:01:18 AM | re:"""GET USED TO IT "WHITE" AMERICA.YOU GAVE A INCH THEY ARE TAKING MILES""
There goes the neighborhood!!!  | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 10:17:05 AM | | The National Anthem is more than a song, just as the flag is more than a piece of cloth. It represents the principles, the honour and the dreams of all Americans. This woman showed grave disrespect toward the United States and all Americans. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 10:31:07 AM | land of the free
kind of shows grave disrespect for people when you enslave them, then step on their necks, lynch them, underpay them, refuse to serve them dounts and coffee, refuse to rent them houses or hire them, make them ride in the back of the bus, and dismiss or rob their culture
home of the brave
but afraid of the occasional act of social commentary, and afraid to face past evils that linger, and afraid to consider that including a previously excluded voice adds to and does not detract from the consciousness of the nation... | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 11:03:10 AM | I say bravo-
was a fire shot, were people moved to violence- NO !
she did what many want to do but have less of a chance-
she shook some of us who are complacent, she tried to have America focus on what it is to be black and female in America
every movement, any change, has to start with a controversial action, the action needed to turn our eyes inward and see things through other's eyes, if that upsets some, so be it, but hopefully, rather than react like many did to the Dixie Chicks, maybe some will at least question WHY she did what she did instead of just strike out at her | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 11:08:55 AM |
The National Anthem is more than a song, just as the flag is more than a piece of cloth. It represents the principles, the honour and the dreams of all Americans. This woman showed grave disrespect toward the United States and all Americans.
That pretty much sums up how I feel as well. Thats all that needs to be said here.... /thread | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 11:23:27 AM | I'm not invested in this incident one way or another. I am bewildered and amused, however, by some of my clueless fellow Americans in this thread. It's as if they never heard of political activism, let alone fundamental human rights, the way they whine on about how this woman made people "uncomfortable," or how she didn't do what she was told to. Where do these people think they live? And if they don't like it here, why don't they leave? There are plenty of countries where this woman would have been arrested - or simply shot - for seizing a platform to make her point. hooker and roadie and 14 are more than welcome to move to Iran or China or someplace else where dissent is not tolerated. They say she didn't have the right? They're in the wrong country.
Let's clean up a few misconceptions. The National Anthem is an unmistakably "white" anthem. It was written and adopted at times when both people of color and Irish, Italians, Slavs and other non-Anglo white people were assumed by the mainstream to be subhuman. It wasn't their anthem then, and they were no more welcome in their own country than Arab Americans, for instance, are today. Baseless and irrational suspicion and hatred followed them around no matter how blameless they were, and the echoes of that crazitude are manifest in this thread and in every American town.
Institutional and cultural racism remain part of the very fabric of our national life. Just look at all the silly people who cling to all those silly lies about Senator Obama! They don't have any evidence that, for instance, he is a "secret Muslim" (since he isn't), but they say so, anyway, because they can no longer call him a n****r straight out without showing their cracker hand. That this woman has a legitimate grievance about racism in America is self-evident to any honest person, of any color.
Now, was she obligated to sing the Anthem as expected? Sure she was. Did she have a higher obligation to use her opportunity in the spotlight to raise questions and demand answers? Not my call, or the government's, or yours. It was her call to make, just as the consequences of her choice are hers to endure. It is strictly up to her whether her YouTube publicity is worth whatever price she pays. To those who don't know our history or principles, that is what freedom means.
Finally, I want to stress that dissent cannot be effective unless it makes people uncomfortable - the more so, the more effective. Otherwise, who would even notice? Dissent is neither very effective unless it forces a reply. Experienced campaigners know that the reply must confirm their message if it's going to stick. We see some of that confirmation in this thread and no doubt throughout the tightie-rightie-sphere.
The greatest irony here, I suppose, is that this woman clearly knows far better what it means to be an American than do her detractors. She is as much a symbol of what patriots defend as is the flag itself. In fact, because she is the reality, as well as a symbol, she is more American than the flag. Makes me proud!
Cheers!
Vulf  | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 11:39:37 AM | I care about -> <- this much about a Black, White, Green or Purple National anthem...
Happy 4th of July everybody! | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 11:53:56 AM |
Most first world countries don't get nearly as worked up about flag and anthem issues as you do. Europes last experience with rampant nationalism was enough for most to realize that isn't the path to take.
Perhaps they should take the path.Complacency tends to make for less than interesting friends.Could just be the problem. | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 11:55:23 AM | I think she shouldve sung the national anthem because that is what she was hired to do... as an artist I find it unprofessional to do such a thing. However as a black american I understand why she did it... that doesnt mean I think it was ok.
If anything she should've sung the national anthem first and then tell the audience that she would like to perform lift every voice and sing for them, but also explain to those unfamiliar with the song that it is considered to be the black national anthem.
My biggest complaint is that she disrespected lift every voice and sing by singing its lyrics to the melody of the national anthem. | |
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| Human rights disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 12:00:36 PM | No, roadie, I said what I said, not what the cartoons in your head say. Feel free to argue with them all you like, whether or not you understand that you are only arguing with yourself.
Understanding what other people say takes more effort than you appear willing to make. So be it. It's a free country. Just don't assume you are taken seriously if you aren't willing to suck it up and make the effort.
If you make the effort, you will be welcome. And respected. No matter what you think.
Cheers!
Vulf
BTW, it's both hilarious and disturbing that boxer doesn't know what Charles means by "Europe's last experience with rampant nationalism." Is he the only one? | |
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| National Anthem disrespected?
Posted: 7/3/2008 12:06:26 PM | Im assuming it was a paid gig... why else would you sing the national anthem?
maybe she found out it was a nonpaying gig and decided to do what she wanted. | |
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