The U.S. National Anthem

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that Francis Scott Key's 'The Star Spangled Banner' is an elegant and patriotic tribute to the United States, but the fact is that in our modern era, as leaders of the free world, our national anthem should not be a tribute to victory in war, which is not an acceptable message for the "leader of the free world" to maintain. The author states that, instead, the United States should adopt a national anthem that promotes (1) equality among all men and women of all races and (2) peaceful world diplomacy. The paper stresses that America's fundamental ideology of extending its powerful influence all over the globe, continuing the long-standing tradition of imperial thinking, must change if it is avoid catastrophe: Changing its imperialistic war anthem is a small but significant step.

From the Paper:

"Part of the problem is that this tendency of Americans to have a superiority attitude is so deeply ingrained that we are not even aware of its dangers. The perception among Americans that we have the right to interfere in other countries affairs is so fundamentally ingrained in the way we view the world that many of us are unaware of it. Furthermore, it is little things which subtly shape our views of the world - our national anthem could certainly be included among a long list of American traditions that uphold this traditional ideology. But now, as we move into the new millennium, the way in which we handle foreign affairs is unacceptable, and a change in our national anthem would be a message not only to other countries, but to ourselves, that we do not intend to support or participate in imperialistic bomb diplomacy."

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