National Anthem in Spanish? How About Not At All

As a discussion over immigration - focused on immigrants from Latin America with little if any debate over immigrants from Europe or Canada - continues, we continue to discover that racism is alive and well in the United States. The latest controversy is over a Spanish version of our National Anthem - The Star Spangled Banner. Some idiots are upset that anyone would sully our great anthem by singing it in a language other than English - despite the fact that the U.S. has no official language .......... yet.

How could any non-racist American patriots have a problem with an anthem that has been rewritten to say, "Its stars, its stripes, flew yesterday; In the fierce battle; in a sign of victory, The glow of battle, in step with liberty"? It is basically an anthem created to incorporate Spanish-speakers into that mass of America that blindly believes in the basic goodness of our country and stands for nationalist solidarity. There is some allusion in the song to an ongoing battle for human rights ("My people keep fighting; It’s time to break the chains"), but most of the song is simply a reflection of the actual anthem, which is a very noble and romantic song about our revolution for independence from England, but which is used, like the pledge of allegiance, as a tool for false unity and forced pride over a nation today that does more to crush liberty around the world than to support it.

I'm unimpressed with the creators and supporters of the song for this reason, but I certainly support their battle against their most public detractors: reactionary bigots all of them.

Instead of this song, I recommend The Coup's "Head (Of State)" from their new album Pick A Bigger Weapon. Much better lyrics: "war aint about one land against the next, it's po people dying so the rich cash checks."