The national anthem in Spanish
Saturday April 29, 2006 at 9:10 am
This is an interesting engagement of patriotism and common sense. I don’t know how you feel about the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”, being inappropriately co-opted and violated for the sake of the immigration debate, but I feel strongly about this one in a manner opposite my general standing on the issue overall.
Leave the damn song alone.
You see, it’s America’s song, a symbol of our nation that stands on its own two feet, and it is and forever should remain in English. This may seem a trite and somewhat pedantic opinion, perhaps even a bit unintentionally jingoistic, but there is some level of patriotic anger that arises when something as meaningful and sacred as a national anthem is defiled by such blatant hijacking. I’m confident this feeling is the same as that felt by most Muslims when they see terrorists using their peaceful religion for political purposes.
Francis Scott Key surely must be rolling in his grave at this point.
I see the new Spanish version of the song as spittle in the face of Americans. I’m sorry, but that’s how I feel. Again, I know this seems a rather minor consideration in the scheme of things, but it’s not: it’s our national anthem, for fuck’s sake!
What this essentially means is that Latinos have commandeered the song and changed it to suit their needs. Apparently, those responsible for this felt they could not be Americans unless they had their own version of our national anthem.
I have long felt that anyone wishing to be a member of our society should learn English at least at a sixth-grade level in order to be able to function in the majority of circumstances. This little endeavor seems to be taking us in the wrong direction, I’m afraid.
Consider this: It is America’s song. Americans speak English. The song was written in English. It is our country’s national anthem and represents our society. Are you following the logic?
Sing the damn thing as it is meant to be: in English and without modification. Do not offend our heritage.
You see, poppets, we did not make the national language Spanglish simply because so many Spanish-speaking people were coming to our borders seeking refuge and opportunity. We did not change the colors of our flag to include those of other nations simply because people emigrated from those countries and came knocking on our doors. We did not expand our national bird into a category to compensate for the melting pot of nationalities coming to America.
And we sure as hell don’t modify our national anthem because immigrants won’t learn English or want to make it their own. Such action will alienate a great many supporters of the immigrant struggle currently taking place here, and support for amnesty and/or citizenship will be hurt by this. Come on! Let’s use some common sense, shall we?
While I realize this stance places me squarely on the conservative side of this issue, I stand with them proudly in this respect. Leave our national anthem alone, will you? Instead of trying to make this country in your own image, understand it’s our society and you must meet us on our terms. It offends — or certainly should offend — every American to have this blatant mangling of our national anthem standing there before us like some repulsive disfigurement.
I’m sorry, but this is not acceptable to me, and it certainly shouldn’t be to any American. There are times when inclusiveness and tolerance are assaulted, and this is just such a time.
Just leave the song alone.
jason
Comments
Leave a Comment
Please note:- Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your post. There is no need to resubmit.
- Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.
- Your e-mail address is never displayed or shared, so provide a real one.
- Line and paragraph breaks are automatic.
- All comments are subject to the rules.
- Your browser must supply valid user-agent and referrer data.
- XHTML available:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
April 29th, 2006 at 9:34 am
You must admit that bush said it right. “LEARN ENGLISH”.
May 2nd, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Sadly, the national anthem was sung in English and Spanish at his first inaugural (both renditions by Jon Secada), so I wouldn’t point to him as the most logical person to proclaim the need to have a single national language, or to voice any reasonable opinion on the Spanish-version of The Star-Spangled Banner. As usual, he’s talking out of both side of his mouth without remembering what each side is saying.
But I agree with the sentiment: this is America; America’s national language is English; our national anthem is in English (or, at least, was certainly meant to be and has greater significance that way); so learn English already, at least enough to function in this society, and stop expecting your host nation to accommodate your inability to adapt.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:22 am
Let’s span the globe for a moment and see what countries change things for their immigrants. Russia? Japan? Germany? France? nope, I don’t think so. Now here is a good one to ask them, What f we as americans decided to immigrate to Mexico, then what? All the money they came up here to take back is already down there. Would we be able to do anything with our money there? NO you have to be a CITIZEN to buy property. So I would have to relinquish my AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP just to buy a house. Do you think that the Mexican government would be lenient on AMERICAN CITIZENS? He Mr. Mexican President? would you change the Mexican Anthem into English for The american Immigrants? What would happen if all the Immigrants (or even tourists) stopped going there for a week. What would that do to their economy? Not as much damage as a hurricane but I’m sure that enough Americans are sick and tired of hearing about these people that feel that they are being hurt. You know what? I really don’t care anymore. I used to think that it we something that would be beneficial…Then I remembered the apartments that I used to own..There were some units that I would find 5 guys living in and would have to evict them. That was tough to do because they werent here to cause problems, just work. They paid cash. It was like going to Vegas. But what I did learn from those guys is that nothing is sacred to them up here. Make the cash and run for the border. They paid me plenty to live under a roof and didn’t give a damn about how they lived or the conditions they lived in. If you don’t care enought about your own conditions, how can we expect you to care for the future of this country? We can’t, That’s why I think if you are illegal, you don’t care and you need to go home to your home nation. If you want to care enough about this country, then become a legal taxpaying citizen. We ARE NOT asking you to renounce your heritage because ALL of us have different family historys. Here’s the deal. Apparently the people that established this country decided on ENGLISH as the language of choice. LEARN IT. Consider it education. OK, well i guess i need to just hush…this is not my website. *jumping off soapbox*