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White conservatives and other people are outraged that Vanessa Williams performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” widely known as the Black National Anthem, during the Capitol Fourth celebration.
Williams’ performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” alongside “The Star-Spangled Banner” at PBS’s annual “A Capitol Fourth” celebration has rubbed many on social media the wrong way.
According to the New York Post, critics fuming at PBS’s holiday broadcast event called it divisive and un-American.
Williams, the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America, said this year the organizers planned to recognize Juneteenth along with the traditional Independence Day celebration, she told the Associated Press.
“It’s in celebration of the wonderful opportunity that we now have to celebrate Juneteenth. So we are reflective of the times,” she said.
Juneteenth celebrated on June 19 became a federal holiday in 2021. It recognizes the end of slavery in the United States. Some people refer to it as Black Independence Day.
As news of the pre-recorded performance hit Twitter on Saturday, people began to blast the upcoming special as “racist” and promoting “segregationism.”
In The Hill’s coverage of the event, they used the phrase “Black national anthem,” and some people took it as the 4th of July will no longer support all Americans.
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In response to The Hill’s tweet, Newsmax host Steve Cortes simply wrote, “We have one national anthem…”
Here are some other Twitter user reactions:
What are your thoughts?
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