On June 25, a group of visiting high school students began to sing the National Anthem on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial. Suddenly, a Park Ranger rushed over and told them they had to stop. It was not allowed. Proper decorum, they said. They had to be 25 feet away, said the authorities. The students went ahead and sang anyway.
Let's go back to Easter Sunday 1939. Marion Anderson had been denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall because she was African-American. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was outraged and arranged for Miss Anderson to sing in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
I invite the reader to supply his or her own concluding paragraph.
17 comments:
You kinda already got told over on Alexandria, but the second one was a scheduled event. So, the two don't really compare.
I'm sorry, but this all reeks of playing the victim and finding oppression where there is none. What if a guy got out an electric guitar and amplifier and played Jimi Hendrix's version of the anthem at ear-splitting decibels? Would it be unpatriotic to tell him to stop?
Yes it would be unpatriotic Lance.
Sorry Lance,
I thought I'd get the Pulitzer Prize for that posting. I guess old Franklin over at Alexandria is getting the big green Cadillac as we speak.
(Private joke- my cross-posting is not exactly getting rave reviews over at Alexandria)
Really, BC? Well, at least you're consistent. So, I guess it's okay to be a douchebag just so long as you're being a patriotic douchebag.
Douchebag, Lance?
That's how I would describe somebody playing an electric guitar at ear-splitting decibels in front of a national monument. (Which was the example that I gave in my first response.)
This whole thing is pretty simple. If they allow people to sing the national anthem, then they have to let them sing protest songs. As much as I like a good protest song, that would be inappropriate.
Why the hell do they have to sing there anyway? What, visiting the Lincoln Memorial isn't patriotic enough? This is all about distracting people from much more important issues.
I think a lot of Americans are getting more paranoid by the minute. People really need to look around what is going on in the rest of the world, and start counting their blessings instead of picking something to be upset about which doesn't mean a thing to billions of other people and has no affect on anything.
PS And to compare it with Marian Anderson is silly, because there are a lot of Americans who still wouldn't let her sing there.
Ingrid,
A lot of Americans who wouldn't let her sing there?
A lot??
Okay, quite a few.
"Quite a few"?
I don't exactly get rave reviews from you over here Gary, but its still good for me to see what you're saying, and think through how and why you are right, or how and why I can muster facts and coherent analysis to convince myself, much less anyone else, that there is a flaw in your position. Are you popping up at Alexandria to win a popularity contest, or to show-case a point of view that might not otherwise be presented?
I'm glad you show up there, I'm also happy to skewer what doesn't look right to me. We're all patriotic citizens having a spirited discussion on the future of our republic.
I already said most of what I had to say some days before you posted. The Lincoln Memorial is designed and designated as a place for quiet contemplation. It was petty and self-centered for these students to barge in and just do what they wanted to do. It shows marked lack of respect for their fellow citizens who were appreciating the quiet, solemn atmosphere and reading the "profound theological content" (Justice Brennan's description) of the Second Inaugural Address inscribed on the walls.
They could have marched down the mall singing anything they wanted. As for Jimi Hendrix, I like his rendition of the SSB, but I would not want to hear it at the Lincoln Memorial, unless it was in a designated public concert.
As Lance pointed out, the Marian Anderson concert was a specific scheduled event. Mrs. Roosevelt couldn't insist on opening Constitution Hall for Anderson, because that is private property, belonging to the DAR, or was at the time.
When I lived in the DC area, I was attended a Thai cultural show on the steps of the Memorial. It deopends on the context. Had they been singing the Horst Wessel Lied, it would have been outrageous. But our National AntheM? C'mon.
And frankly, I found Franklyn's response downright nasty. But I don't mind being the skunk at the (Alexandria) garden Party. I guess the only thing that keeps me over there is that Stewart has been most gracious.
The thread that you and Franklin were exchanging comments on was such a tangled mess when I got back from a week without internet access that I didn't try to put a word in edgewise. I wouldn't have known where to begin, or what to say.
I would note though, that if an amateur choir spontaneously burst into a cathedral during a period set aside for quiet prayer and contemplation, some very devout Christians might object to hearing "Faith of Our Fathers" at high volume at that particular time and place.
Siarlys,
Franklin has apologized, so it's closed. I do say however that rules about public outburst or disruptions are much looser out of doors than indoors.
Did you see my Mel Gibson posting on the Mavi Marmara? I gave you a hat tip.
I not only saw it, I acknowledged it. I thought Lance would have taken note too. As far as I understood, this class was singing either INSIDE the Lincoln Memorial, or immediately outside the portico. If they had sung somewhere around the bottom of the steps, or walking beside the reflecting pool, I would say they were exercising their right to free speech, free expression, and free association.
"If they had sung somewhere around the bottom of the steps, or walking beside the reflecting pool, I would say they were exercising their right to free speech, free expression, and free association."
!!!???!?
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