Tennessee Democratic Representative Steve Cohen expressed anger at Super Bowl LVIII spectators for not standing during the black national anthem.
“Very few stand at the Super Bowl to ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’. Negro National Anthem. Not a pretty picture of the Super Bowl crowd.” Cohen growled at X.
Sunday marked the second consecutive Super Bowl in which ballads were performed live on the field for the big game. The poem was sung by Andra Day and received a warm response from the audience.
The black national anthem was composed by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson in the late 19th century as a hymn to African American hope for freedom and faith.
Cohen, who is Jewish, represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which is 66.8% black. He is the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.
“I stand for both. And in Memphis, most of them do,” Cohen replied when an X user criticized [sic] the use of two national anthems.
“I respect our national anthem and respect it as representing our country and in our pride in it. However, if you look at the history and some of the words, it is related to slavery and not questioning it,” he explained later.
Well, I respect our national anthem and respect it as representing our country and in our pride in it. However, if you look at the history and some of the verbiage, it is related to slavery and not in a questionable way.
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) February 12, 2024
Steve Cohen was not happy that the Super Bowl audience did not support the black national anthem. Reuters
Before last year’s Super Bowl, in which the NFL officially played the song live on the field before kickoff for the first time, the league had played black national anthems at other games.
For years, the NFL has been consumed by controversy over players kneeling during the national anthem – “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
In 2018, the NFL began banning players from kneeling during the national anthem and remaining in the locker room if there is a problem.
A group of black athletes such as former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem to protest the treatment of black Americans in the country, sparking a backlash.
Grammy winner Andra Day performed the anthem before the Super Bowl. Getty Images
Cohen has sparked controversy with his tweets about race relations in the past, including one ridiculous post in 2013.
“Tell African-American tow driver my week -father -DNA test not reporter’s father/ interesting fallout. he (oblivious to TN9) says, You are BLACK! Yo,” he wrote on Twitter, as he was then called.
He later clarified that it was a joke and suggested that his black constituents saw him as one of their own.
“It was fun. It was funny. I had a rough night. Here’s what happened: I was driving an ’86 Caddy. A lot of African-Americans drive old cars — the stereotype — a lot of African-Americans drive old cars,” Cohen later told MSNBC. .
Telling an African-American tow driver my week -father -DNA test not reporter’s father/ interesting fallout. he (oblivious to TN9) says, You are BLACK! Yo
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) July 21, 2013
In the past, the NFL has faced controversy for players refusing to stand during the national anthem. Getty Images
“I was not lucky. He drove me, we left the car, I came back and I told him. … He goes, ‘Man, you’re black.’ And I take that as a compliment. I hear it in Memphis all the time. My voters don’t see me as white, they say, ‘You’re one of us.’”
Cohen has previously fielded black Democratic primary challengers for his seat, including one that cut ads that tried to link him to the Klu Klux Klan. He has served in Congress since 2007.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
