The Hill News

In his recent missive, titled “Time to Turn Off the National Anthem Before Sports Events,” Kevin Blackistone argues that the singing of the national anthem at all sporting events has outlived its purpose. He submits that very few Americans even know the song, and suggests that still fewer can recall why the words were written in the first place. There’s nothing about playing tee-ball that should stir memories of a lopsided British attack on Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.

“Sports,” Blackistone writes, “have and continue to ritualize [the anthem] with barely a shred of relevance.”

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