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May 5, 2006
The Star Spangled Banner :: La Bandera De Las Estrellas
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
The National Anthem being sung in Spanish isn't news. Well, it might have
been in 1919, but not now.
In 1919, the U.S. Bureau of Education commissioned a
Spanish-language version of "The Star Spangled Banner." The State
Department's website also features four-separate versions of the anthem in Spanish.
And while one might not be able to hold President Bush and his staff to know
the number of versions of the national anthem (quoted by several sources to
be nearly 400), I do think we can ask him to remember his own Presidential
Inauguration. Bush's 2001 inaugural ceremony featured pop star Jon Secada
sang the national anthem in English and Spanish; as they did in much of Bush's
campaign. Apparently it's OK to lure in disenfranchised voters with their
language and culture -- and the promise of meeting their needs as citizens
-- as long as you denounce them later.
I normally don't quote Condoleezza Rice, but she made some sane comments on
this issue. On CBS's Face the Nation, she said "I've heard the national
anthem done in rap versions, country versions, classical versions. The
individualisation of the American national anthem is quite under way." And
she added "From my point of view, people expressing themselves as wanting to
be Americans is a good thing."
I can think of only one way to mark Cinco de Mayo this year: To sing the
national anthem in Spanish. Or, if you cannot bear the thought of your own
inability to sing in Spanish, perhaps a call to your own legislator to tell
them that you are against Senator Lamar Alexander's resolution which would
require the national anthem only be sung in English.
Posted by photocartoonist at May 5, 2006 1:24 PM