Newt Gingrich - Do We Need Seven National Anthems?

We don’t need multiple National Anthems. Our Founding Fathers insisted that America was made up of people as a unified nation in which people worked together for the betterment of all.

Callista and I were at a Super Bowl party Sunday, when the Black National Anthem was sung. Several of the guests were turned off by it. They believe strongly that there is only one National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The words of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the song adopted in 1917 by the NAACP as the Black National Anthem, are totally positive. The song ends with “true to our God, true to our nation.” Out of context, most conservatives would think it was conservative and communicated values with which they agreed. But the song’s individual merit is not the problem. The concept that we need a second (separate-but-equal) National Anthem is what conservatives find disturbing.

However, as I thought about the National Football League’s billionaire owners and their desire to pander to wokeism, I thought it might be an interesting exercise to argue their positions. So, let’s go with the flow and imagine the natural result of wokeism’s effort. If they want to continue dividing Americans, maybe they should consider having seven national anthems:

Since the Black National Anthem already exists, it can be No. 1.

No. 2 could be a Latino National Anthem (there are of course many different nationalities and ethnicities covered by Latino but the Mexican, Cuban, El Salvadoran, and other nationalities would have to come together to pick one anthem).

Three could be a Native American National Anthem (there are of course 574 legally recognized tribes included in the term Native American – but we can’t have 574 separate anthems, so they would have to be satisfied with one anthem which tribal councils would have to hammer out and endorse).

The fourth could be an Asian American National Anthem (the numerous, dramatically different groups encompassed within Asian American include Afghans, Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians – itself including a remarkable number of subgroups – Iranians, Japanese, Koreans, Pakistani, Tibetans, Thai, Vietnamese, some Russians, etc.). But, again, they would need to come together to agree on one anthem.

No. 5 could be a White National Anthem for the various Caucasian European groups who came to America (recognizing that English, Germans, Greeks, Irish, Italians, Poles, some other Russians, Scots, Scandinavians, Welsh, and more represent a wide range of white European backgrounds).

But why stop with ethnicity? Six could be an LGBTQ National Anthem for those Americans who believe their sexuality and gender are the most important aspects of their humanity.

Finally, the Star-Spangled Banner could remain as the seventh. After all, if we are dividing America, we need a song for those who want to honor of the amazing cultural melting pot from which the Founding Fathers forged a new unified nation from a multitude of backgrounds. Before the recent emergence of the new woke racism, the Star-Spangled Banner had been the unifying song which historically brought Americans with shared pride of patriotism together. Besides, wokeism’s narrative requires an enemy to kick around.

But enough nonsense.

Efforts to subdivide Americans into ethnic blocs are impossible to sustain and ultimately will collapse of their own inherent contradictions.

The Founding Fathers chose “E Pluribus Unum” – “out of many, one” – for the Great Seal of the United States. They boldy insisted that while America was made up of people from everywhere, it would become one new, unified nation in which people worked together for the betterment of all.

The woke fanatics would replace this motto with Ex Uno Multis – “from one to many.” They would replace the diverse, unified American melting pot with a divisive, hate filled, ethnically hostile, conflict-ridden system which would be the end of America.

As for me, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” is all we need. The rest may be good songs – but they aren’t our National Anthem.