Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake speaks to supporters during her election night event at The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 8, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A photo of Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake staying seated during the performance of a song dubbed the “Black National Anthem” during the Super Bowl game on Sunday has gone viral.
Lake, who has refused to concede the gubernatorial race to Gov. Katie Hobbs, was photographed sitting during the playing of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” unofficially known as the Black National Anthem, at the Feb. 12 Super Bowl game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Benny Johnson, chief creative officer at conservative organization Turning Point USA and host of “The Benny Show,” shared the photo on Twitter.
“The @NFL played two different ”National Anthems“ tonight. Someone just sent me a photo of @KariLake sitting during the first one,” Johnson said.
The photo, at the time of reporting, had over 8 million views.
Lake replied to Johnson’s post with a comment: “I’m just here for THE National Anthem,” sparking a flurry of comments, ranging from supportive to critical.
Arizona Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake speaks with supporters at a rally in Phoenix on Nov. 3, 2022. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
Lake’s campaign, Kari Lake War Room explained why she chose to stay seated.
Kari Lake War Room explained in a post: “Our girl is against the idea of a ‘black National Anthem’ for the same reason she’s against a ‘white National Anthem,’” namely that “she subscribes to the idea of ‘one Nation, under God.’”
Lake further addressed her decision to stay seated during the performance of the song in a statement to media outlets on Monday.
“I’m against a ‘black National Anthem’ for the same reason I am against a ‘white National Anthem,’ a ‘gay National Anthem,’ a ’straight National Anthem,‘ a ’Jewish National Anthem,‘ a ’Christian National Anthem,' and so on,” Lake said.
“We are ONE NATION, under God. Francis Scott Key’s words ring true for every single American Citizen regardless of their skin color. James Weldon Johnson’s ‘Lift Your Voice’ is a beautiful song, but it is not our National Anthem,” she added.
Sheryl Lee Ralph performs Lift Every Voice and Sing prior to Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Feb. 12, 2023. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
‘Black National Anthem’
The NFL’s pre-Super Bowl festivities included a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known colloquially as the “Black National Anthem,” stirring controversy and debate on social media and beyond.
Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph performed the piece ahead of the Feb. 12 game, which was the first performance of the song live on-field during the Super Bowl.
The song, written by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900, served as a rallying cry for black Americans during the civil rights era.
Ralph teased the performance in a post on Instagram before stepping onto the field.
“It is no coincidence that I will be singing the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing at the Super Bowl on the same date it was first publicly performed 123 years ago (February 12, 1900),” she wrote in the post.
“Happy Black History Month.”
Sheryl Lee Ralph performs Lift Every Voice and Sing prior to Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Feb. 12, 2023. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Ralph told ET that she was thrilled to be picked to sing the song, saying that it sent a political message.
“I thought what a wonderful honor it is for me to be here singing this song inside the arena with the NFL, making a huge gesture for diversity, inclusion, and the end of so many of these isms that people want to keep alive to divide us,” she told the media outlet.
There were mixed reactions to the song, however, and while Ralph saw the performance as bridging divides, others saw it as sowing division.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) took to Twitter to express opposition to the performance of anything but the official national anthem at the game.
“America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM,” she wrote. “Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness.”
Bill Kristol, founder and director of the advocacy group Defending Democracy Together and an avid “never Trumper,” reacted to Boebert’s criticism by posting the lyrics to the song and encouraging her to “sing along.”
‘Uncomfortable With Blackness’
Other left-leaning voices also took aim at criticism of the performance
“All of this ’there’s only ONE national anthem! What is all this wokeness!?'” pro-abortion activist and director of Politics and Government at the NGO Gen-Z for Change, Olivia Julianna, wrote in a post on Twitter.
“Y’all are just too afraid to say what you really mean—which is that you just hate black people and you’re uncomfortable with blackness. It’s a beautiful and historically rich song. It should be sung.”
Black conservatives who didn’t share the view that opposition to singing the Black National Anthem is rooted in racism also spoke out.
Xaviaer DuRousseau, a media personality and ex-BLM activist who once said he “shattered [his] own indoctrination and woke up from the Left’s lies,” took to Twitter to criticize the performance of the Black National Anthem at the game.
“‘Black National Anthem’ is an oxymoron. We are ONE nation under God. If you think otherwise, you’re in support of segregation. It’s that simple,” DuRousseau said in a post on Twitter.
Darrell B. Harrison, host of the “Just Thinking” podcast, took a similar view, writing in a post on Twitter, “What more divisive message could be sent than to suggest we’re a nation of two anthems.”
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
