Spanish Star-Spangled Banner
I've heard several people say the Spanish version of the Star-Spangled Banner means the same thing as the English version.
If this were true, I'd have virtually no problem with it. The fact, however, that it virtually eliminates references to the actual events witnessed by Francis Scott Key -- that is, you know, the whole point of the anthem -- means I have a huge problem with it.
There's nothing in there about rockets or bombs or, most importantly, the fact that the flag still waving was a sign the fight was not yet over.
And, worse, this important feature of the Star-Spangled Banner is replaced by a call to continue to "fight on" and "march toward liberty." Now, there's nothing wrong with those things, but they seem to be an expression of contemporaneousness that is missing from the Star-Spangled Banner, which is all about what happened before and the hope it provided at the time. To turn that into an explicit call for civil action today perverts it.
Also, the fact that it is called "Our Anthem," which is a way segregating people by language even further, so they have their National Anthem and we have Our Anthem, is more than a little disturbing.
The fact that it is in Spanish bothers me the least of all the bothersome things about it. It's that it is changed significantly and is being used to cause more separation and division is what is dangerous about it.
If this were true, I'd have virtually no problem with it. The fact, however, that it virtually eliminates references to the actual events witnessed by Francis Scott Key -- that is, you know, the whole point of the anthem -- means I have a huge problem with it.
There's nothing in there about rockets or bombs or, most importantly, the fact that the flag still waving was a sign the fight was not yet over.
And, worse, this important feature of the Star-Spangled Banner is replaced by a call to continue to "fight on" and "march toward liberty." Now, there's nothing wrong with those things, but they seem to be an expression of contemporaneousness that is missing from the Star-Spangled Banner, which is all about what happened before and the hope it provided at the time. To turn that into an explicit call for civil action today perverts it.
Also, the fact that it is called "Our Anthem," which is a way segregating people by language even further, so they have their National Anthem and we have Our Anthem, is more than a little disturbing.
The fact that it is in Spanish bothers me the least of all the bothersome things about it. It's that it is changed significantly and is being used to cause more separation and division is what is dangerous about it.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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