![]() ![]() Originally written as a poem celebrating the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, it was soon set to music by James’s brother. It was written during a tumultuous time for African Americans, when the opening decades of the twentieth century were marked by a revival of the KKK, lynchings, and the passage of Jim Crow laws codifying segregation across the country. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was written by James Weldon Johnson in 1900. The two songs evoke strikingly different moods and modes of being American: one rooted in the struggle for freedom for all, the other in the American expansion into lands held by others. And again in 2021, the NFL announced that, in conjunction with its efforts to combat racial injustice, it would play the song at all “tentpole” events, such as playoff games.Īt the heart of the conflict is this juxtaposition, which played out on one of the nation’s largest cultural stages. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the league directed the song be played before every game on Opening Day. Playing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has become associated with the civil rights movement, before some games has been part of that effort. The NFL has tried to address these concerns in ways big and small. As Rubin notes in her column, over the last few years, the NFL has made efforts to be more openly supportive of racial equality and justice, especially given its own prior missteps in this area. ![]() Sunday’s performance was not something new for the NFL. ![]()
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