Civic Cipher 092521 Ramses Ja & Q Ward

Be sure to stick around your radio, because today we have a lot to talk about, including school district in Oregon that once upon a time we talked about this on the show they banned BLM protests and posters and paraphernalia and that sort of stuff on their campus. Well now apparently they have some students that are participating in some online slave auctions, so we definitely need to talk about that. We're also going to talk about whether or not the NFL should play the Black National Anthem in

addition to the regular national anthem. There's some big names that has some thoughts about that, and of course we're going to discuss what that means we're also going to talk about, uh, the history of the Star Spangled banner. So we're going to do that with our way black history fact and of course we are going to spend

some time talking about ebony excellence. This time we're going to talk about Little naz X. He's been in the news a lot, but we want to give him some credit whereas due, because not all of the news makes its way to your ears. So all that and more coming up in today's episode of Civic Cipher certainly some stuff you don't want to miss out on. So with that said, let's get into some ebony excellence. How do

you feel about that, que Let's get it? Yes indeed? Okay, Well, Little nas X, for those that know, Lil nas X is the person who sang Old Town Road that was the number one number one song of all times, the longest running number one hit record in the history of hit records. And of course he's got some other songs and more recently he's made news just being controversial. He's done a lot of stuff with like some demonic symbols.

He was you had a pregnant belly and it was a metaphor for him bringing his album into the World, and you know, everyone takes issue with this guy, but I want to talk about him for a second because I do believe that he's an example of ebony excellence. For those who don't know, Lil nas X was named twenty twenty one suicide Prevention Advocate by LGBTQ organization The

Trevor Project. He started a fundraiser with the Bail Project and raised sixty thousand dollars for incarcerated individuals nationwide for his registry. For his Montero album, where he had the pregnant belly, he created a baby registry and that registry spotlight sixteen charities focused on healthcare, justice and LGBTQ and

BIPOD causes. So definitely someone who's not just antagonizing people think to Kashi six ' nine, but actually is really trying to take this controversy that surrounds him and pointed

in the right direction. In addition to those I've seen that he's cash apped actual pregnant people to help them prepare for the babies that they're coming, he's also made children's hospital visits in Atlanta, where he's from, and he's partnered with ug and made Pride themed boots and a Pride theme collection to benefit GLAD And of course he's donated to the Freedom Fund of Minneapolis after the protest to twenty twenty. So once again, want to take the

time out to highlight some ebony excellence. This week it's little Nasa X and we're not mad at that at all. So oh yeah, with that said, it's time to get to the meat and potatoes of today's show. So you heard me talk about the Oregon school district that banned the BLM posters and the T shirts and you know,

all the signage and everything like that. Well, as I mentioned in this a lot of these notes come from the Atlanta Black Star, So if you want to check out the various articles for yourself, that's the source for

this material. But now they have students that were involved in a slave auction and they were joking about what they pay for their black classmates, right, So that by itself is alarming, and I think that for me, it shows exactly why these conversations about black lives matter and the history of black people in this country, why these things need to be taught in schools. You know, these

these these teachings have been challenged across the country. We've done many episodes talking about that, and then, of course there are people who can't get past this silly notion that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization or domestic terrorist group, and their you know whatever whatever news story that they come up with that they invent out of the thin blue sky and then repeat, you know, but there's no real source to you know, the majority of

you know what they talk about. But I think that this really illuminates why the conversations are necessary, necessary, why it's necessary to say things like black lives matter, and why black lives matter does have a presence in society, and dare I say it even on school campuses, you know, for those things to be politicized by the school board, I think it ignores the humanity of it, because black lives matter, regardless of how you feel about it, can't

exist as a statement on its own in its own right, just as a thought, and anybody that agrees with that should be able to share that thought or wear that thought on their clothes, on a button, you know, on a sign, if they so chose. This is my thoughts on it, and I believe that when you don't do

that you end up with situations like this. Now you might recall we did talk about a snapchat slave auction where there were some students in it might have been Michigan, you know, just talking about their classmates and you know, getting off all kinds of you know, racist language that of course, these children picked up from their homes or you know, other whatever wherever they get it from. Because

no one's born being racist. We know that. But what I have here says in the snapchat group chat, students use photos of students and racist slurs and joked about how much they pay for black classmates. The chat first popped up in Michigan, so that's when you and I first talked about a que late last year, and is also surfaced in Texas, of course. But on Friday, others reported one student's use of the chat, and I want

to read this quote and get your thoughts. Q Newburg High School became aware of a very serious and inappropriate incident on social media in which one of our students took part in a snapchat group themed slave trade and use photos of other Newburg High School students in the group. The district's statement said, heng on, let me read this too,

and then get your thoughts. Screenshots posted on Instagram by a user named Royce Dewey show a discussion of students' private lives and the prices other students would pay for them. Screenshots show student comments such as all blacks should die and let's have another Holocaust. Okay, your initial reaction to that.

people's lives that don't look like me matter. But they're comfortable doing so in a school district where a large enough segment of the population feels that way anyway, so they don't get pushed back, they don't have anybody digging deeper or trying to teach any lessons. It's far more comfortable that way, And even though people are not born. Racist people are born into racist families. Sure, people are born to racist parents, and they're teaching and teachings and

ideologies from their very first thought. Their very first words are racist, even in in some cases by parents who would never consider themselves that because they hear the term and understand it to be a bad thing, even though they share all the beliefs, thoughts, and ideologies of a person. That is, no one just wants. No one wants to be called that bad word, even if they had a

shirt on that says I am by definition this. And there's something about our young people expressing things like that that hurts and hits me in my stomach in a way that's different than adults. I don't know why. I don't have an explanation for. But when you were just reading what they were saying in that group chat, knowing that it was impressionable teenagers, that hit me different. I typically hear stuff like that and get mad. This time it was like, oh man, you know what I mean.

Like I felt sad for them instead of mad at them. Sure, Sure that was my initial response as I heard it, was like, oh man, you know what I mean, And that's that's a as. You know, that's a different response for me. Typically I hear stuff like that and I'm ready to the tables over and throw stuff. But when you just read that, I felt bad.

those people, and I'll say it, those cowards. And I choose that word carefully because sometimes people need to hear it. You know. There's been times in my life when I've maybe behaved in a similar manner. And when you use strong words like that with me, you know, I tend to react to it because no one wants to be called that. But if that's you know, if that's a fair statement, I think that it should stand on its own.

And this story reminds me specifically of the way our show started Civic Cipher, where we went to our old program director. This is the short version of the story, but we went to our old program director in twenty twenty and we says, hey, can we put on a show that will allow some of the leadership on the streets to come up to the station and explain what they mean when they say defund the police, because it

sounds scary if they don't get to explain it. But if they explain it, it sounds like it's actually been given some thought. And I think that people who listen to this radio station that plays seventy percent black artists and sagan.

traced back to a slave field, right. And so my challenge was, you know, you should set aside some time so that these people whose culture you're profiting from, these are my people too, you know, whose culture you're profiting from can say their peace, you know, be a real ally in this moment. Do you love black people? Because you clearly love black culture. It's feeding your families, and you know, do you love black people? Yes? If so, then allow them a moment of time on your airwaves.

You got twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Give these people an hour per week to come up and say their peace, to maintain a relationship with the with the community that you're profiting from. Right and as the story goes, you know, Q and I were told no that they wanted to do the FCC mandated show.

It's it's a what's it called an community service type of thing at the FCC mandates every broadcast station do, and the one at that station was about going to the dentist and getting your teeth fixed or getting your teeth cleaned or something like that, good dental health. So that was the PSA they were running, and they opted to run that instead of run the show you're listening to right now, Civic Cipher and so we had to resign because obviously that's we could not be complicit in

that behavior. We felt that black lives were worth more than that, and Ultimately they came around when the community found out what happened when we resigned. You know, the community stood by us, and this is why, you know, we were able to create Civic Cipher and then because of the support of many programmers around the country. Now you're hearing our voices. But this story about this school

in Oregon kind of feels the same way. You know, at our old station, they were like, you know, we really just don't want to get involved, you know, in any of this stuff. We don't want to pick a side. And of course the station was in Arizona, which at the time was still a very red state, and a lot of the advertisers of that radio station, you know, might have had some right leaning corporate you know, big wigs who might have taken issue with the station picking

a side or something. Who knows what they're they're thinking was. But our charge was that, hey, this is life and death. Hey we really need to change these ideologies. We need

we need to really do something. And because this station has I think it had a forty thousand watts signal and a broadcast to you know, Phoenix, six million people, you know, here's your opportunity to be on the right side of history, you know, And I think that I see the same thing here when I'm looking at this school, in the Newburgh High School, because they had an opportunity,

it was brought to their doorstep. The problem was set squarely in their lap, and they had to take it to vote to say, are the students allowed to say with their clothing, with their signage, with anything, are they allowed to say that black lives matter? Are they allowed to show support of LGBTQ students? You know, these students oftentimes, you know, we talked about when we talked about Lil nas X, you know, suicide prevention. You know, that's a

tough road. I don't know myself firsthand, but sometimes when I listen to stories of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, you know, my heart breaks because I recognize that's that's a that's a tough road, and so we have to by definition, stand in solidarity with them, you know, as as as you know folks who hold a space for black voices, you know, we also try our best to be an ally to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, and you know, really all of our brothers and sisters who

are marginalized to somegro or another. But I digress. You know, in looking at this school, I see the cowardice in their refusal to allow those statements to exist in their world. They want to pretend like everything is okay. They want to pretend like everything is going to blow over. And then now what we're seeing, of course, is one of their very own students coming up in at least in this report talking about all how all blacks should die.

Obviously he didn't get the memo that black lives matter. You know, who knows. Maybe that those signs could have made some sort of impression. Maybe he could have found friendship, you know, by you know, seeing someone with a shirt you know that he was already friends with, and perhaps the concepts being explained to him. You know, he's still a student, which means that he can still learn. I'm assuming it's a he you know, the name Royce Dewey. But you know the other part of this is let's

have another Holocaust. You know, uh that's rooted in Nazism, you know, so someone has to teach the student that, you know, no one's born knowing about the Holocaust either. So again, what I see is cowardice. In that decision. Now I want to read it a little bit more so, this is what happened earlier. Quote. As a school board, it's our job to make decisions that are going to be there for every single kid at Newburgh High School, not just the kids that are represented in one group.

It has to be all kids, board chair Dave Brown said at the time. Right, So his refusal to highlight one group of students that really needed it has now affected all kids because what we see is racist behavior continuing to happen from what I'm assuming is a non black student. And I got a couple of quotes here that I want to get off just to kind of show what the community is think. And obviously the school board, you know, decries this action and cause it reprehensible and

so forth. But one of the fathers said about black lives the Black Lives Matter flag during the meeting, quote, it's certainly not a symbol of love to those of us that have members of our family and law enforcement. End quote. So I want to challenge that because there are some people who really feel that way. Maybe they're not listening here, but you, as a listener, might come across people who feel this way. And may not have

the language to challenge that sentiment. And the truth is, Black Lives Matter has some aggressive tactics, you know, and some aggressive language, and rightfully so, it's challenging a system that has been bullying black and brown bodies for centuries.

a place for that in such society. We have free speech in this country, and if you want to get the needle moving or get some attention, a lot of times that certainly does help that cout. Whether or not it's right, I don't, you know, but I do recognize how as a tactic it can be effective in getting attention.

that that was somehow something hurtful. The statement in and of itself, the flag in and of itself was some follow, somehow a hateful or hurtful symbol to law enforcement.

of black people and brown people in this country. Right, So the purpose of Black Lives Matter, or rather the statements that are often directed at policing, is really directed at the system. Dismantling the system, rethinking what policing means, revisiting different ideas of community policing, defunding the police so

that they don't look like a military. They look like police officers that yes, they can fight crime, but they don't have to show up to get a cat out of a tree or to you know, do a welfare check. You know, you don't need a murder weapon to see if somebody's doing okay. You don't need a murder weapon

to pull someone over most of the time. But this culture of fear that really inhabitates, you know, the policing systems in this country has kind of caused Black Lives Matter to come up with to rethink what policing is should be and they've gotten a lot of support, which

is why we're still talking about it now. Now, I do want to read another quote because a mother disagreed with this person saying that Black Lives Matter was a challenge to law enforcement, and she cited that the student participation in the slave auction was a clear illustration of

the racism and discrimination that plagues the community. And the board members are now taking a second look at the band after passing it with a four to three vote last month, So that's definitely something to keep in mind. And one last quote. I want to leave you with this quote. My heart is so broken for these kids who have gotten the message that they are not even seen as human by some of their fellow students. End quote Heidipender, the mother of a black student at the school,

tod KGW news quote. To imagine your own child being talked about as if they were sub human slaves to be sold by other students. It made me feel like I was going to throw up in quote. So we're going to leave that right there. And yeah, now, well.

our way Black history fact discussing that. But first we are going to discuss becoming a better ally. So let's get into that right now.

finalist who was cheated out of her possible victory. So what happened is the Senate passed a resolution that would honor Magnolia Cox, who in nineteen thirty six was just thirteen years old and was considered a spelling prodigy with an IQ that was off the charts. She was from Akron, Ohio, and became the first black to qualify as a finalist

for the National Spelling Being Washington, DC. However, getting there was far from easy, and competing was met with racism because segregation and Jim crowlaws were still very much in place. Cox and another black child, fifteen year old Elizabeth Kenney from New Jersey, were forced to travel to the National Spelling Bee in the colored car of the train. Despite it all, Cox went on to become the first African

American finalists in the top five. She was well on her way to win the competition, having thoroughly studied the one hundred thousand word list given to each speller. But the judges, who were all white Southerners, plotted against Cox and pulled a word that was not on that list. And what happened is, of course, she misspelled the word that wasn't on the list that she was given to study. And it wasn't until recently that the Senate passed this

revolution to honor her. And I do think that righting the wrongs of the past really has its place because there's this narrative that exists that hey, that wasn't me that did that. That was a long time ago, that has nothing to do with me. But there's two senators Ohio, Senator Rob Portman and Sharad Brown. They both teamed up to pass this resolution in the Senate and right the wrongs of the past. And it is, in my estimation, perhaps the best way to deal with the past. If

you feel like folks were treated unfairly. It's not to say, Okay, that day is over to new day. Let's try to all look forward. No, let's try to make things right. So that is how you can become a better ally. Moving on, we're going to talk about sports. So I know that you're happy about that. Q.

me start this off. There's a couple of big names saying, no, this should not be played at these NFL games. We should just play the national anthem. And they're not names that you might think of. One is Bill Maher, who thinks that the black national anthem should not be played, and Isaiah Thomas also thinks that the black national anthem should not be played. Now me ramses Ja, Rudy King Taylor. The second I'll give you my full name, I don't care. I think, yeah, why not, And I'll explain why. But

first I want to let you know what Bill Maher said. So, here's a quote I saw last night on the football game, Alicia Keys saying, lift every voice and say, which now I hear is called the Black national anthem. Now, maybe we should get rid of our national anthem. But I think we should have one national anthem. I think when you go down a road where you're having two different national anthems, colleges sometimes now have many of them have

different graduation ceremonies for black and white separate dorms. This is what I mean segregation. You've inverted the idea. We're going back to that under a different name. And you know, while I'm at it, I'll give you a quote from Isaiah Thomas. When you sing the national anthem and then you sing the Black national anthem, the only thing that

it does is it's emphasizing our separateness. And he said that on the Fearless broadcast, And of course I have some thoughts on that, but I want to check with you first, Q. What do you think?

and Booker T. Washington. We're saying very opposite things, but for the very same reason. Sure, so I get what they're trying to get across. But you have Isaiah Thomas on Jason Whitlock's show, Jason Whitlock being a very very aggressively counter black, counterculture black guy, which bless his heart.

And Bill Maher, who I spent a lot of years considering an ally, but who has now grown tired of people that are aggressively anti racist and has taken up a more centric, moderate position himself, which I believe you called earlier in the show Cowardice. It's just like saying, well, when you say black lives matter instead of all lives matter,

then you're listen, people, no we're not. And taking that very very simplistic straw man position to oppose progress is just as bad as being on the side of the oppressor. The one thing Bill Maher said that I think I kind of agree with you, and I only see a kind of because I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the first time I ever heard it expressed was today. Maybe we rewrite our national anthem and make it more inclusive and make it so we don't have

to sing two separate ones. But right now, that more inclusive anthem doesn't exist, So to sing the anthem of only one representative party of America seems a bit unfair as well. But then you know that could turn into a slippery slope. We could be sitting here saying we need five different, six different, twelve. We need a national anthem for every person where American is the second part

of how they identify the suffix. If you will, every suffix, every group with American as the suffix needs their own national anthem. Is the slippery slope we could find ourselves going down. But all of this stuff, people, was in response to a situation that put a massive magnifying glass on our country's original sin and our lack of repairedness

and reparation. George Floyd was murdered in daylight in front of his fellow citizens by a fellow citizen for what we I want to say absolutely no, was for being a black man in America. And I've heard several black people. We spoke about one of them, I refuse to say her name. Try to vilify George Floyd and highlight all of his imperfections, all of his shortcomings, all of his perceived failures, all the reasons he shouldn't be a martyr or a hero, as if you have to be perfect

to not be murdered. We're in such a hurry to be right that we're not even empathetic or human beings. We want to seem profound and woke, and we're taking up positions and stances that are anti human because the human beings being discussed are black. Wow wow, well said, So black lives matter in the end zone and on the court for the NBA, lift every voice and sing at the start of these games their in response to

what people are seeing happen to black people. And just like in a neighborhood where all the houses have value, the fire department would put the water on the house that's on fire. They wouldn't spray everybody's house and say all these houses have value. No there's a house on fire here. Let's put that fire out. Black people in

this country are the house on fire. So even if you don't think lift every voice and sing is the right solution to the problem, it's just someone saying, hey, man, I know there's more that we should do, but can we start here? Can we do something? Can we show some symbol that we're in this with you, that we care, that we see you, that yes, you do matter, because somehow asking to matter, demanding to matter is that you've gone too far.

your chest, you will feel something. If you try to imagine what life is like as a black person with the legacy that black people have. It just it's a moving human experience. You don't have to be black to enjoy it. It's not the most like you're not going to turn up at the club to the Black National Anthem, you do, you know what I'm saying. It's not that kind of a party. But if you have a beating heart, as I stated, you'll be able to feel it, right.

And the words of the song are so meaningful and so powerful, right, And I believe that's sort of how it became the quote unquote Black National Anthem. You know, it just kind of is one of those old songs that has been passed on and passed on, and it reflects a different journey, a different experience, a different legacy. You know, obviously there's the mainstream legacy, but the regular NAW anthem cannot account for all of the the weight of being black in the same country. I promise there's

black people that love this country just the same. They'll bleed for this country, they'll die for this country. They wear the stars and the stripes on their military uniforms, so forth and so on. But there's a different connection to this country, you know, a different relationship with the

United States of America. And the reason that we're having this conversation today, and the reason why I'm not opposed to them playing both national anthems is because the NFL, as you stated Q, I believe, is taking their rightful

place and acknowledging that to a degree. The beginning of really everything we've seen in the past few years two three years started with the NFL and Colin Kaepernick, him protesting police brutality and police injustice and police not being held accountable for taking lives of black and brown people with no repercussions. And you know, the NFL in their initial act of cowardice, I'm gonna call it what it is.

You know, now it seems like they're making those or trying to make those wrongs right, and I applaud that. That's why I said I support this. But now if they're able to and this isn't this isn't everything, but it's something because they're still playing the national anthem, I still want everyone to stand so that they don't have people, you know, boycotting or burning nikes or whatever is that

folks were doing back then. They'll play the national anthem, everyone's stand, but they'll also play the black national anthem. So from the NFL's perspective. It's like, listen, we recognize that there's something that we have to do, So I get it. Playing the Chinese national anthem or the you know, the whatever other national anthem. That is what's at the

end of that slippery slope. But as you mentioned, Q, the Chinese quote unquote, the Chinese house isn't on fire, you know, in the same way, in the same arena. You know, there's we've certainly had our conversations about, you know, stop Asian hate, and we'll always stand in solidarity with our Asian brothers and sisters. Not to pick on them,

I just needed an example. But if their house is not on fire on this block, this block being the NFL, then perhaps the NFL should focus on, Hey, let's make sure that we take a step to kind of bridge these two and to Bill Maher and Isaiah Thomas, who are saying, hey, look, this is this is further inviting us, which is effectively what I think they're trying to say. This is, why are we doing the same thing twice? Or we're taking these people and making them separate from

you know, the normal. You know, I think that neither of them are really in touch with what it's like to be on the streets. Neither of them. That both of those people are rich people. They live in a different America too, right, so their perspective on things. I mean, obviously there should be lots of voices at the table. All these discussions should involve many different vantage points. I don't love it, but I accept that, you know, that's the way you get to a happy medium, or maybe

an unhappy medium, but progress nonetheless. But I don't know that these people really get it. I think they're looking at what's wrong with it as opposed to what's right with it, and what's right with it is it's a move to try to heal. Now, there's always going to be people that take exception with it, but these people are supposed to be allies and advocates of black people and a black agenda. Certainly in modern times in this country, we need to, you know, make some progress as black people.

We need to you know, get these prison population numbers down. We need to close excuse me, the economic gap. We need to you know, remedy a lot of the the ailments of Black America that disproportionately affect black people and

brown people in this country. And then of course, as we mentioned, we need to discuss the way the criminal justice system deals with black and brown bodies and black and brown people with respect to sentencing and pretty much every single step along the way in the political system and in the criminal justice system. And so if you just look at oh, we're further divided by playing two national anthems as opposed to looking at it like, okay, what positive does this bring? You know, which I didn't

see in any of these quotes. And granted, I recognize sometimes quotes, you know, get taken out of context and so forth, but you know, my understanding was that these people kind of stood firmly on these hills. I think that what they're doing is they're missing the point. And it's very easy to miss the point when you're not on the ground, when you're not seeing how the NFL has I mean, I don't know what the percentage is, but you know, in my mind's eye, when I think

of an NFL player, you know, it's someone black. You know, there's tons of black people that play in the NFL and the NBA, and you know a bunch of sports. You know, so they have to reconcile. Okay, well, listen, just like that radio station we discussed that we used to work at. Okay, we're making money off of black people, a good number of them, and we have done some mastardly acts in the past, and we need to find a way forward. What can we do that perhaps accounts

for black people's experience as well? What can we do that brings some sort of healing to the injustice that we've committed in the past. And I'm not sure that that's what they were thinking, but the act certainly feels that way.

in this country black and white. So this is why I say Isaiah Thomas is perhaps out of touch, not.

You know, if I was a judge, I would throw this whole thing out of court because it's like, no, you got it wrong, and you're trying that you're you're embellishing, and you're taking some liberties here that really don't work. You're trying to establish a new narrative and it doesn't fit. Okay,

Now I do want to add to that that. Let's see the USA Today poll shows that Americans agree that young children should not be taught about racism before they're even old enough to read a basic sentence, with just twenty two percent saying children should begin learning about racism in kindergarten. So that shows where we are in this country. That we still need to convince the population that racism should be taught. We should teach children that this exists.

When you identify it, you know, to separate yourself or try to educate or whatever challenge it. You know. Another statistic, more than eight and ten Americans the exact numbers, eighty two percent believe the country is divided and twenty three percent filled the tree is more united under President Biden. So I mean seventy five or seventy seven percent still think that the country is as divided as it's ever been and Biden hasn't really made any.

by Columbia Records. It was written by actor Harry C. Brown and played on the familiar depiction of black people as mindless beasts, a burden, greedily devolent, devouring slices of watermelon, which, if you don't know, that stereotype of black people loving watermelon comes from black people eating watermelon at a time when black people weren't served ice cream because it was considered more of a treat. So yeah, let's lean into this a little bit more because I want to get

into our way black history fact. Today's way. Black history fact is the reason the Star Spangled banner didn't become our national anthem for a century. So I'm gonna read this to you. This comes from the Washington Post. By the way, it was September of eighteen fourteen. The British had sacked Washington and towards the White House. The conflict became known as the War of eighteen twelve, even though

it was in its third year. The British had also taken prisoners, including a popular doctor from Prince George's County and Maryland. A friend of the doctor selled on a ship flying a truce flag to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the Royal Navy. The mission was successful, the British commanders agreed to free the doctor, but while on the ship the man, a thirty five year old lawyer named Francis Scott Key, overheard plans for a surprise attack on Baltimore.

He and the doctor would not be allowed to leave until the attack was over. That's how Key ended up witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry while aboard a British ship. He couldn't tell from his vantage point who had won or lost, but at dawn he saw the American flag fifteen stars and fifteen stripes at the time, still waving over the fort and was inspired to write the poem. Soon it was set to the tune of an existing song, and that's the short version of how the Star Spangled

Banner came to be. Now, the longer version of this story, both the song and the story and of the man who wrote it, reveals not only why it has become controversial now in this season of racial reckoning, football and presidential campaigning, but why it was too controversial to become the national anthem for more than a century after it was written first, A Few Things to Know about the

War of eighteen twelve. One of the main issues was the British patients are sorry, the British practice of imprisoned Sorry, I'm sorry, the British practice of impressment, the force conscription of American sailors to fight for the Royal Navy, plus the British promised refuge to any enslaved black people who escaped their enslavers, raising fears among white Americans of large

scale revolt. The final provocation was that men who escaped their bonds of slavery were welcome to join the British Corps of Colonial Marines in exchange for land after their service. As many as four thousand people, mostly from Virginia and Maryland, accepted. It's important to know these things because the Star Spangled Banner, originally called The Defense of Henry, has more than one verse.

The second half of the third verse ends like this, no refuge could save the hirling enslave from the terror of flight, nor the gloom of the grave. And the star spangled banner in triumph doth wave or the Land of the Free and the home of the brave. Okay, I'm gonna pause right here, because no refuge could save the hiring enslave. That means that even if you escaped and you were a slave, you're not gonna find any

refuge here. We're killing everybody. America's killing everybody, right and that part comes here from terror of flight or the gloom of the grave. So that means that we're still trying to kill these slaves who are trying to escape to join the British, to be free. All right now, back to my reading here, these lyrics are a clear

reference to the Colonial Marines. According to Jefferson Morley, author of Snowstorm in August, Washington City, Francis scott Key and the Forgotten Race Ride of eighteen thirty five, quote, they are clearly meant to scorn and threaten the African Americans who took the British up on their offer. He wrote in a recent essay for The Washington Post. He surely knew about the colonial Marines, and it's even possible he saw them among the contingent of British ships that sailed

into the Baltimore Harbor. And even if these lyrics aren't meant to be explicitly racist, he clearly was. He descended from a wealthy plantation family and enslaved people. He spoke of black people as a quote distinct and inferior race end quote, and supported emancipating the enslaved only if they were immediately shipped to Africa. According to Morley, during the Andrew Jackson administration, Key served as the District attorney for Washington, d C. Where he spent much of his time shoring

up in slaver's powers. He strictly enforced slave laws and prosecuted abolitionists who passed out pamphlets mocking his jurisdiction and quote land of the Free, home of the oppressed end quote. Although the star Spangled banner and all its verses were immediately famous, keys overt racism prevented it from becoming the national anthem while he was alive. Morley wrote, there was no official anthem, and many people chose to sing other songs like my Country Tizzmzy tizaby and to wrap it up.

Key's anthem gained popularity over time, particularly amongst post reconstruction white Southerners and the military. In the early twentieth century, all but a few all sorry, all but the first verse were cut not for their racism, but for their anti British bent. The United Kingdom was by then an

ally of the United States. After the misery of World War One, the lyrics were again controversial for their violence, but groups like the United Daughters of the Confederacy that's the klu Klux Klan I believe, fought back, pushing for the song to be made the official anthem. In nineteen

thirty one, President Herbert Hoover made it so. Now black people singing that song, standing up and singing that song at a football game has a different meaning to it, doesn't it, you know, And a black national anthem perhaps more accurately reflects the black experience in this country, the legacy that we have as black people, right makes a little bit more sense after hearing that.

you know. But they're so vocal and they're so committed to the way things were and the heritage and all these these these buzzwords that really work for the right wing that it would be nearly impossible to change the National Anthem. And even people on the left, you know, people who are a little bit more liberal in their beliefs, that's a tall order, right. So what the NFL is doing by saying, hey, look there's another song that accurately

reflects the black history in this country. It's known as the Black National Anthem, and we can play this as well. I think that it's a step in the right direction. I think Bill Maher is a guy who's speaking out of turn, and I think Isaiah Thomas hasn't had boots on the ground in too long to really render an opinion like that and not have it challenged, you know, because the first place I'm going is to pick apart, like what have you done for me lately, you understand,

So those are my thoughts. Q. Any last words, we got a few seconds.