OANâs James Meyers
12:24 AM â Friday, September 8, 2023
Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was critical of the National Football League (NFL) on Thursday, as the Detroit Lions faced the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 season opener.
Prior to the game starting, a local youth choir group performed a rendition of âLift Every Voice and Sing,â which is known as the Black national anthem. It was performed before âThe Star-Spangled Bannerâ much to Lakeâs displeasure.
âI hear the @NFL is still trying to force this divisive nonsense down Americaâs throats. I wonât stand for it. Literally,â she wrote on X, the company formerly known as Twitter. âAmerica has only ONE National Anthem and that Anthem is color blind.â
According to Newsweek, when reached for a comment, a representative for Lake provided a statement from the former gubernatorial candidate.
âIâm against a âBlack national anthemâ for the same reason I am against a âwhite national anthem,â a âgay national anthem,â a âstraight national anthem,â a âJewish national anthem,â a âChristian national Anthem,â and so on,â Lake told Newsweek in the written statement.
âLift Every Voice and Singâ was performed before Super Bowl LVI and the draft in April 2021. The NFL started performing the Black national anthem during the 2020 season in response to the death of George Floyd.
The Black national anthem âLift Every Voice and Singâ was promoted by the NAACP, starting in 1917.
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