WATCH: Olympic athlete Gwen Berry insists US national anthem ‘disrespects’ black Americans
“It’s disrespectful and it does not speak for black Americans.”
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“It’s disrespectful and it does not speak for black Americans.”
In a recent interview, Olympic athlete Gwen Berry specified that her recent protest at the qualifier event was because of the alleged references to slavery made in the full version of the US national anthem.
It was over the weekend that the third-place hammer throwing athlete was photographed turning away as the national anthem played, per routine. The incident was an occasion that the Biden administration saw as Americans having the right to "peacefully protest."
The Black News Channel interviewed Gwen Berry to probe what her intentions and motivations were for the controversial demonstration.
Olympic athlete Gwen Berry insists the national anthem is "disrespectful" to black Americans pic.twitter.com/PNGtc109NG
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"If you know your history, you'd know the full song of the national anthem. The third paragraph speaks to slaves in America, our blood being slain, and piltered [sic] all over the floor. It's disrespectful and it does not speak for black Americans. It's obvious. There's no …. there's no question," Berry stated.
The reaction on Twitter from Berry's critics focused on how she's there to represent America and it's a given that the national anthem of the USA is played at the Olympics. On Berry's part she interpreted the responses as demonstrating "people in American rally patriotism over basic morality" and that the corporate statements of support for BLM are a "hoax."
"At this point, y'all are obsessed with me," Berry remarked in the face of a call for removal from Team USA made by Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX).
Crenshaw pointed out the distinction between the "taking a knee" protest at NBA games as different from the occasion of the Olympic games.
"Why be on Team USA if you don't want to represent the flag?” the BNC host asked Berry. To which, Berry responded: "I never said that I didn't want to go to the Olympic games. That's why I competed and got third and made the team. I never said that I hated the country. Never said that. All I said was I respect my people enough, to not extend or acknowledge something that disrespects them."
The Black News Channel then lists the third verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner:"
"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 washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. / No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave..."
The interview round off by pointing out that the "The Star-Spangled Banner" songwriter Francis Scott Key was a "huge slave owner."
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