Jordan Poyer's wife Rachel Bush calls out NFL over Black national anthem controversy - “New form of segregation”
A new controversy has emerged in the NFL, but it is not poor officiating. Rather, it is Tasha Cobbs Leonard's performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" — aka the Black national anthem — before Thursday's kickoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens. The song has garnered criticism for being “anti-American and divisive.”
Rachel Bush, the wife of Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer, was quick to bolster that notion on her X account, calling out the league for not addressing it astutely:
'How many of these men think the 'black national anthem' is actually a part of their culture? Most [of] the men in the league that I know couldn’t even tell you 4 words from that. Seems like a new form of segregation to me and blows my mind people don’t see it that way."
She added to her comment, writing:
"We have an anthem for the white people and an anthem for the black people. how tf does that not sound sus to some of y’all… Why can’t we all align with one anthem under the term American which we all are? Just more division in my eyes but whatever floats your boat."
What is the 'Black national anthem'? A brief overview of the hymn that has become a hot topic in Week 1
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" was written and composed in 1900 by brothers James Weldon and John Rosamond Johnson. In 1917, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People began promoting it as a "Negro (Black in modern times) national anthem."
In the context of the NFL, the league announced in 2020 amid popular furor over the George Floyd protests that the song would be played before every Week 1 game. The decision came on the heels of a new social justice campaign that in turn stemmed from Commissioner Roger Goodell's groundbreaking acknowledgment of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Coincidentally, the Chiefs were involved in the first game to have "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as part of the pre-game program. On Sept. 10, as they hosted the Houston Texans, a video of acclaimed singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, backed by a youth chorus, performing the song was shown on the video screen at Arrowhead. The video was filmed at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
It can be seen below: