A photo of former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake attending the Super Bowl is making the rounds on social media for refusing to stand during the Black national anthem.
Lake was seen sitting during the playing of the Black national anthem at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12.
Kari Lake doesn't stand for the Black National Anthem and liberals have been crying ever since🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/3sIVpsWcWp
— lauras4Trump (@Lauras4T) February 14, 2023
The photo of her refusing to stand for the anthem has garnered wild responses on social media, with many praising her decision.
“There’s one national anthem for all of America,” one Twitter user wrote. “To suggest let alone play separate ‘anthems’ for different groups is so divisive, even if intentions are good. We should focus on fixing problems like the schools in lower income communities [and] making them exceptional.”
“You be true to yourself. There is only one National Anthem,” wrote another. “It’s my option to recognize anything different than what I have been taught. It does not mean I am racist. It means I am an individual. True to myself.”
The Black national anthem, called “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” was played prior to the National Anthem ahead of the game. The song was written by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900 as a poem that turned into a hymn, according to the NAACP’s website.
The anthem was played during the 2020 Super Bowl, and the league’s 2020 season included the song during its Week 1 games. It was also played prior to the league’s 2021, season before all games.
Its inclusion in games has since sparked heated debate across social media, with critics calling it “segregation” and “racist.”
“I’m against a ‘black National Anthem’ for the same reason I am against a ‘white National Anthem,’ a ‘gay National Anthem,’ a ‘straight National Anthem,’ a ‘Jewish National Anthem,’ a ‘Christian National Anthem,’ and so on,” Lake said in a statement on Monday.
“We are ONE NATION, under God. Francis Scott Key’s words ring true for every single American Citizen regardless of their skin color. James Weldon Johnson’s ‘Lift Your Voice’ is a beautiful song, but it is not our National Anthem,” she continued.
