UPDATED: When you’re black first, and American second….

It was earlier today that Doug…. ooops, sorry, Dave! make that DAVE Noble… Anyway, DAVE Noble and I were having a chat on another FA thread, about how I believe Michelle Obama thinks of herself first as a black woman, and as an American second. You can read our exchanges here.

Lo, behold… an article today on a surprise version of our National Anthem performed during the annual State of the City address in Denver, CO.

A jazz singer shocked some Denver residents after replacing the words to the national anthem with those of the “Black National Anthem” during the annual State of the City address this week.

Rene Marie was asked to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper delivered the annual address on Tuesday. Instead, she sang the lyrics of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — a hymn commonly referred to as the “Black National Anthem” — to the tune of the national anthem, MyFOXColorado.com reported.

snip

The mayor said only Marie, her husband and a musical adviser knew what the local jazz singer had in mind.

Needless to say, her abrupt and secret change in the “set list” didn’t go down well. The Mayor was “disappointed”, and City Councilman, Charlie Brown (I swear, I’m not making this up….) was “mad” and “almost walked off the stage”.

But this is what happens when citizens think of themselves first as black Americans, and just plain ol’ Americans second. Would Ms Marie have considered this same stunt – substituting an albeit beautiful song celebrating civil rights, for the nation’s anthem – had BHO not been the DNC candidate for POTUS? Personally, I think it’s highly unlikely.

Instead, I truly believe that this unspoken, but genuinely noticable aspect of the Obama’s – quietly emphasizing their own projection as Black-Americans first – is encouraging this “hypenated Americanism” and class/race division to a new extreme. From a party that insists it is doing all it can to “unite” Americans, the DNC seems to have accomplished just the opposite. They’ve emboldened women who think gender over substance, and Americans who place race as a priority over national tradition.

As I said in my post to Dave Noble:

The whole point of patriotism is the bond between all as a nation…. regardless of color or nationality. To place import of your class/race first – over and above the national bond of all – is, to me, highly inappropriate for the leader of the free world. I will not condone any hypenated nonsense from my POTUS. He must be American first in his representation, or does not get my respect.

… and a H/T to Mike’sA for this news blurb…
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UPDATE: Obama: “‘We only have one National Anthem’

The background simmering of the story, combined with the ever astute BHO cyber hit squad vigilence, results in initial, cautious “disappointed” and “mad” criticism stepping up a few notches… including the DNC candidate weighing in himself.

“Well, ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song that has been sung in African-American churches and other events for a very long time,” Obama told the Rocky in phone interview. “We only have one National Anthem. And so, if she was asked to sing the National Anthem, she should have sung that. ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song, but we only have one National Anthem.”

The Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper, tread lightly on what could be construed as a racially charged issue, expressing only disappointment. Perhaps with BHO on his side, he felt more comfortable lashing out with stronger words.

“Her actions show a certain lack of understanding for how strongly our community feels about patriotic symbols and traditions, and certainly overshadowed a day of great importance to our city,” Hickenlooper said.

Now the Governor and sundry CO Congressional representatives weigh in as well, none in support of Ms. Marie. (RTFA…)

As for Ms. Marie? She chalks it up to “artistic expression”, saying her song: “was an artistic expression of her love for her country.”

But Ms. Marie herself, in other prior interviews reiterated in this Rocky Mountain news story, goes on to affirm my headline here, “When you’re black first, and American second”.

Marie said she started working on the song about three years ago after she toured Russia and an interviewer referred to her as an American. She said she was “startled” by that reference and felt like she wasn’t an American.

“I struggled with why I felt that way when I came back to United States because I love living in this country,” she said, adding that she decided to rewrite some of the patriotic songs she learned as a child, both as a creative outlet and to reflect her black heritage.

While I have no doubt that BHO finds this judgment by Ms. Marie a glaring error, it does not change my opinion that the Obama’s themselves bear an indirect responsibility. Obviously prior to the DNC candidate’s meteoric rise to prominence, Ms. Marie’s attitude of “black first, American second” was well entrenched. And she is not alone in this hypenated Americanism. So what is different?

The Obama’s remind us publicly… and often… of their pleasure in a new rise of pride in Black America. Also we are reminded by his popularity that this black pride is readily accepted by the nation. But did they expect this pride would usurp a “blind to race/class” national pride?

Reality dictates that for the DNC candidate to be viewed as the great “uniter”, he must first emphasize America’s divides. And over the past months, the slow and painfull healing since the 50s and 60s has gone retrograde. Instead of neutralizing oppression based on race, we find the gap again widening. A significant portion of America – of many nationalities and race – prefer to one up the past, harboring an odd vengence that manifests itself in public shunning of traditional national expression.

This segment of humanity is emboldened by BHO’s popular acceptance… thus giving Ms. Marie the confidence to do something she would never had dreamed of doing had Obama never made it past Iowa.

To BHO’s defense, I don’t believe he consciously divides the nation out of political expediency. Instead I believe it’s as simple as this – the Obama’s view the nation literally in “black and white”. As evidenced by their choice of theology, and revealed by his website with constituents neatly divided in his “people” page, and his “groups and circles” page – the Obama’s inherently view Americans not as a single unit, but as subsets of classes and races.

For a leader of the free world, this is a dangerous starting place for governance.