Lift every voice and sing ‘til earth and heaven ring. Ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the list’ning skies. Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun. Let us march on ‘til victory is won.

Is this song racist?

If you’ve been wondering how a Christian should respond to this question, let’s explore it a little bit together.

Two weeks ago, on February 11th, if you tuned-in to watch the Superbowl pregame show, you will remember having seen recording artist Andra Day sing the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem. 

If you’ve paid attention to the headlines since then, you’ve seen reactions and then responses to those reactions, labeling the song, its performance, and people’s opinion on it as racist. As we are a Gracist church, this is a great chance for us to approach this cultural conversation together. Although this won’t be an exhaustive exploration, maybe some historical, scriptural, and pastoral notes here might start us on the right track.

Is the Black National Anthem Racist? 

Historical: 

The first thing I think about in response to this question is, why was there a movement to recognize a song as “the black national anthem” in the first place. This is a similar response to one that I would have if someone asked why we have HBCUs, BET, or Black History Month itself. What is the origin story for each of these Black specific institutions? If we were to explore why they came about in the first place, then maybe we would shed some light as to whether  they are racist. 

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a song that was first written as a poem by civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900 in the midst of America’s Jim Crow era. By the 1920s, the NAACP had endorsed the popularity of this moving hymn, promoting it as the Negro National Anthem. The song features hope filled lyrics that honor God’s faithfulness through a very pain-filled life of struggle. Although the lyrics of this song do not directly name the racial abuse and oppression its author and wider community faced, it was birthed out of the spirit of those shared experiences. 

Sung for a century now, this song has inspired, upheld, and acted as a healing balm for the African American community through continued racial hardship and progress. This hymn has been sung in schools, churches, entertainment venues, and government offices, and the list goes on. 

Following the George Floyd protests in 2020, the NFL announced that it would include a performance of the hymn before select NFL games alongside “America the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” (Now, I would have to write a whole other blog post to explore my thoughts on why commercial major league sports events feature any cultural or national songs, but for lack of time, you’ll have to invite me out for a coffee for that one). 

Biblical:

Special Honor or Harmful Division?

When we as a church look to orient ourselves to how scripture directs us to handle cultural division, we point back to the key passage that our pastor, Dr. Anderson, wrote about in his book Gracism: The Art of Inclusion. 1 Corinthians 12 directs the reader to understand what unity within diversity looks like. As we seek oneness among differences in color, class, and culture (1 Cor 12:13), we see that scripture uses the picture of the human body to describe the way different and distinct parts are needed to complete the complex form of the whole. This scripture also guides us to treat each part of the body differently, depending on its specific needs and contributions. Different treatments and different contributions for each part of the body do not indicate division but instead recognize the need for conscious inclusion. Conscious inclusion is the active decision to offer special grace and favor in order to communicate love, value, and honor to those who might feel otherwise. 

Verses 24 & 25 of that passage say that “God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body.”

Giving greater honor to a part of our body for whom that honor was withheld and denied is an incredibly redemptive and restorative gospel act of love. Generously giving that honor in order to uplift and express value can heal that which has been broken in the body of Christ. 

A question I would ask is, might it be possible that featuring a public performance of a song of honor to communicate value to a people who have been dishonored be a demonstration of this kind of conscious inclusion? Could that be a gospel act of love?

Pastoral:

Facing the dark history and current remains of racial division and abuse is a challenge to navigate. It is not easy to determine when to lean in and talk about it and when not to feature it as the central point of focus. Debating whether the song should be sung at an NFL game should not take center stage away from the value this hymn has contributed through the last century of racial progress in our country.

Personally, I remember the words of this song from when we sang it in my grade school choir. Seeing, from a young age the way this song can move a whole room to a shared moment of pride and dignity has never left me. The words introduced me to the complexity of hope within the midst of pain and they have never been far from my memory. 

I wonder, now, as I interact with so many overly tense racial challenges, what would happen if, when there was an opportunity to honor the Black community, the loudest voices of honor came from people who look like me. What would it do for the wider conversation if the cry and call for honor was filled with voices like those we have at Bridgeway, a multicultural body of fully devoted followers of Christ moving forward in unity and love to reach our community, our culture and our world for Jesus Christ. As each of us picks up the banner of hope for a more unified future, we will join those in history to face the rising sun of our new day begun. We will march on ‘til victory is won.

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