Articles on National anthem

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Lamar’s Super Bowl appearance marks a political reckoning for the NFL. Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images

Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

The rapper has mastered the delicate balance between commercial success and politically charged music. How far will he push the envelope on one of the world’s biggest stages?
Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs hockey players stand for the national anthem in Toronto in 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

‘O Canada’: Why I no longer stand for the national anthem

You can love a country and still hold it to account. I love Canada. But I won’t stand for the anthem at a sporting event or elsewhere, especially not when my kids are watching.
Whitney Houston sings the national anthem on January 27, 1991, at Super Bowl XXV during the Persian Gulf War. Michael Zagaris/Getty Images

A brief history of the NFL, ‘The Star‑Spangled Banner,’ the Super Bowl and their tangled saga of patriotism and dissent

For the NFL, playing the national anthem started as a patriotic marketing ploy. It’s now played before every game alongside ‘Lift Every Voice,’ the Black national anthem, and ‘America the Beautiful.’
The guitar man. ‘The chords reached a crescendo as the Casspir drowned the song in its passing,’ says the photographer of taking the shot. © Photo courtesy John Liebenberg

Pop culture: restoring Namibia’s forgotten resistance music

An archive project is restoring the secret history of Namibia’s resistance music culture from the 1950s to the late 1980s – suppressed and censored during apartheid but now touring the world.
The NSW Blues’ Cody Walker is one of several players who will remain silent during the Australian national anthem at Wednesday’s State of Origin match. Dean Lewins/AAP

Our national anthem is non‑inclusive: Indigenous Australians shouldn’t have to sing it

Several Indigenous rugby league players have vowed not to sing the national anthem during this week’s State of Origin match. Will the protest spark a conversation, or fizzle out?
During Super Bowl LIII, will Atlanta’s long struggle for racial equality be highlighted or glossed over? Peter Ciro/flickr

Super Bowl LIII and the soul of Atlanta

The country’s ‘Black Mecca’ is hosting the Super Bowl. With the NFL’s national anthem controversy still lingering, this creates an undeniable paradox.
The brouhaha over a nine-year-old girl refusing to stand for the national anthem appears to confirm that tolerance is on the wane and nationalist sentiment on the rise in Australia. Shutterstock

Outrage over schoolgirl refusing to stand for anthem shows rise of aggressive nationalism

The storm over a nine-year-old refusing to stand for the national anthem is an indication of how ugly, and misguided, some aspects of national debate have become.

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