Olympian Gwen Berry responds to criticism, says national anthem disrespects black Americans

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American hammer thrower Gwen Berry again defended her decision to turn her back on the American flag while covering her face with a shirt that said Activist Athlete during the national anthem this weekend, dismissing claims that she hates the country she represents.

Berrys’ display at the Olympic track and field trials in the United States on Saturday, where she secured her spot on the U.S. Olympic team after finishing in third place, has left many wondering why she would represent a country in which she does not believe.

We don’t need militant athletes anymore, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R., TX) said in an appearance on Fox & Friends earlier this week. She should be removed from the team. The goal of the Olympic team is to represent the United States of America. That’s the whole point.

On Monday, Berry responded to the backlash in an interview with the Black News Channel.

I never said I didn’t want to go to the Olympics which is why I competed and finished third and made the team, Berry said.

I never said I hated the country, she added. I never said that. All I said was that I respect my people enough not to stand up for or recognize something that disrespects them. I love my people. Point blank, period.

She went on to say that she is disputing a line in The Star-Spangled Banner, which she says alludes to the capturing and beating of slaves.

If you know your story, you know the full song of the national anthem, the third paragraph is about the slaves in America, our blood being slaughtered on the ground, she said. It’s disrespectful and it doesn’t speak for black Americans. It’s obvious. There is no question.

The stanza in question says:

And where is this band that swore with such pride, That the ravages of war and the confusion of battles. A house and a country must never leave us? Their blood washed the pollution from their filthy footsteps. No refuge could save the mercenary and the slave. From the terror of theft or from the darkness of the grave, And the star-spangled banner floats in triumph. Oer the land of the free and the house of the brave.

The story continues

Some historians believe the lyrics should be read as a threat directed at the African-American slaves who defected from the British during the War of 1812 in order to achieve freedom.

Mark Clague, a musicologist at the University of Michigan, disagrees with this interpretation, arguing that the stanza was intended to denigrate British slaves, not African-American slaves.

The reference to slaves is about the use, and in a sense the manipulation, of black Americans to fight for the British, with the promise of freedom. American forces included African Americans as well as whites. The term free men, whose heroism is celebrated in the fourth stanza, would have encompassed both, Clague told The New York Times.

On Saturday, Berry said she was pissed off by the timing of the national anthem, saying she was told the anthem would be played before she stepped on the podium rather than while the athletes were standing on it. .

I feel like it was a set-up, and they did it on purpose, Berry said. I was pissed off, to be honest.

They said they were going to play it before we went out and then they played it when we were there. But I don’t really want to talk about the anthem because it’s not important, she said. The hymn does not speak for me. He never did.

My purpose and my mission are bigger than sport, she continued. I am here to represent those who have died of systemic racism. This is the important part. That’s why I’m going. This is why I am here today.

However, USA Track and Field spokeswoman Susan Hazzard said Berrys was claiming it was a setup that was not accurate, according to Fox News.

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