|
2018 Crispus
Attucks Black History Month Essay Contest Sponsored by
Toledo City Councilman Tyrone Riley in Partnership with the
Thurgood Marshall Law Association and Toledo NAACP
FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES:
9 THROUGH 12
6 THROUGH 8
Francis Scott Key wrote
the Star Spangled Banner in 1814 about the American victory
at the Battle of Fort McHenry.
The song itself is
controversial because Key was a slaveholder and
anti-abolitionist. He was also very unforgiving of Blacks
who joined the British (Loyalist) to fight against the
Americans (Patriots).
The song has four verses.
At many events, including sporting events, only the first is
sung. Here is the third verse, which attacked the former
slaves for fighting with the British:
And where is that band who
so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's
confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror
of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled
banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave.
It officially became the
national anthem in 1931.
Considering this
background, the question asked is:
Is kneeling for the
National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner) free speech or
unpatriotic?
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY
BY March 1, 2018, AT 4:00pm.
|
