Charlotte native and Grammy-winning singer Anthony Hamilton is frustrated “The Star Spangled Banner” isn’t the best representation of all Americans. He’s taking time away from performing the anthem in light of protests of racial discrimination against African Americans. |
NEW YORK — Grammy-winning R&B singer Anthony Hamilton has sung the national anthem in the past. Don’t ask him to sing it in the near future.
Hamilton’s frustration with “The Star-Spangled Banner” is shared by some other black Americans, who feel like the tune sung before major U.S. events is not the best representation of all Americans.
That sentiment became part of the national conversation after the NFL’s Colin Kaepernick announced he would not stand for the anthem in protest of racial discrimination against blacks in the United States, particularly after a spate of police shootings of African Americans.
Since Kaepernick has decided to take a knee while the anthem plays at games, others have followed suit, from the NFL to high school to other sports.
There are still plenty of singers singing the national anthem at major events. But Hamilton is among those who are reconsidering whether they’d do so.
“Im gonna take a little time away from the anthem until it starts feeling like it’s for me,” said Hamilton, who is black. “We need a new song, one that really speaks for all of us, or bring some new life to the one that we have.”
Several musicians declined to be interviewed for this story. The anthem, one of the most popular songs in the country, has become a badge of honor for musicians when invited to sing it, and a well-received live performance of the song normally boosts an act’s career. Whitney Houston’s performance of the anthem at the Super Bowl is considered one of her greatest, and one of the best renditions of it.
The NFL said teams arrange for their own anthems, and while some singers are second-guessing performing the song after Kaepernick’s protest, the organization said “no teams have identified this as an issue.” But on Monday at the Sacramento Kings preseason game, singer Leah Tysse, who is white, kneeled while performing the national anthem.
A Quinnipiac University poll released this week shows that most white Americans disapprove of protests by athletes during the national anthem while black Americans approve of the protests by an even larger margin.
Hamilton said he currently feels mixed emotions about being black in America in these racially charged times, and even sometimes feels betrayed.
“It feels like it’s a lie by the way they treat us,” Hamilton, 45, added of the anthem and how blacks are regarded in America. “Seems like the Constitution ain’t really constituting us.”
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