The Black national anthem has been a fixture in the Super Bowl and the NFL since the summer of racial unrest in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The NAACP began to promote “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as the Black national anthem in 1917. The song being performed before the Super Bowl has caused division across social media.
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Sage Steele attends Shaq’s Fun House in Las Vegas on Feb. 9, 2024. (Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Sage Steele said on her podcast, “The Sage Steele Show,” that she didn’t like the Black national anthem while talking to musician Reggie Watts. Steele said playing the song before “The Star-Spangled Banner” was “ridiculous.”
“Dude, we’re one big melting pot,” the former ESPN star said. “This is good. Why are we now choosing to separate again when we’ve been in a tough time here the past several years, to say, ‘This is only our anthem, but you all better stand up. Get your a– up.’”
“I think we’re all Americans and it’s our anthem. And all the immigrants from across the world that have come here stand up for our anthem. They’re all Americans.”
Steele said that because Watts didn’t know what the Black national anthem was at first was proof that it was a new concept and that “they’re shoving it down people’s throats.”
Sage Steele speaks during the Players Tailgate by Bullseye Event Group in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 2022. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Bullseye Event Group)
Andra Day performed the song before Super Bowl LVIII this year, but it drew a bunch of blowback from Republicans.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., wrote on X about a conversation he had with his wife about why they weren’t going to watch the Super Bowl.
“They’re desecrating America’s National Anthem by playing something called the ‘Black National Anthem,’” he wrote.
Rep. Mike Loychik, a Republican lawmaker in the Ohio House of Representatives, criticized the NFL.
Andra Day performs “Lift Every Voice and Sing” prior to Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
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“There’s no such thing as a black national anthem,” he wrote on X. “We are all AMERICANS, united by our great and beautiful Star Spangled Banner. The Super Bowl is supposed to bring us together. “It’s a disgrace that the NFL decided to push the politics of racial division again.”
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