Conservative NFL fans are demanding a Super Bowl boycott after they discovered that the “Black National Anthem” will be performed on Sunday in New Orleans. Over the years, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” has been sung during the NFL pregame events—and has always sparked some type of controversy.
The league has announced that Root 100 performer Ledisi will perform the song—in front of Donald Trump—before Jon Batiste does the national anthem. On Tuesday (Feb. 4), Trump shared that he will be at the big game which makes him the first sitting President to ever attend the Super Bowl.
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“Lift Every Voice and Sing” debuted at the pregame show in 2021 with Alicia Keys’ prerecorded performance. Gospel group Mary Mary sang it in 2022 and in 2023, Andra Day performed her version of the song at the Las Vegas extravaganza.
Last year, Sheryl Lee Ralph did a stirring rendition of the classic song. Still, conservative fans believe it has no place at the annual event.
“The Star Spangled Banner is an Anthem for all Americans and discriminates against no race Having a black supremacist “national anthem” at the Super Bowl is an affront to the great melting pot of America and is racist,” one user on X claimed.
Another wrote: “America has one national anthem...this Black one is meant to divide our nation...I will not be watching or purchasing any products that supports this.”
Andra Day received similar backlash from Republicans and MAGA fanatics three years ago. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said he and his wife were opting out of watching the Super Bowl because they believed the “Black National Anthem” was “desecrating America’s National Anthem.”
During Super Bowl LVII in 2023, Trump loyalist and politician Kari Lake went viral for refusing to stand for “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” After the game, she took to social media and said “I’m just here for THE National Anthem.”
The song was originally written as a poem in 1899 by James Weldon Johnson.
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