Kudos to Cuban for Not Playing the Anthem

News broke yesterday that someone finally noticed the Dallas Mavericks haven’t been playing the national anthem before their games in the COVID-empty arena. Check out the story on ESPN if you haven’t heard about it. Here’s the skinny of the article:

The Dallas Mavericks have stopped playing the national anthem before home games at the direction of owner Mark Cuban, he confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.

 

The Mavericks do not plan to resume the tradition to play the national anthem before games in the future.

 

Cuban, who declined further comment, made the decision after consulting with NBA commissioner Adam Silver. The Mavericks did not announce the change in policy, but the national anthem has not been played before any of their 13 preseason and regular-season games at the American Airlines Center this season.

Kudos to Mark Cuban. Yeah, he’s gonna take heat from a group of “patriots,” but it’s the right thing to do. Honestly, I never understood the need for it to be played before sporting events. It’s not like our country is engaged in a World War, as we were when they first started playing the song before sporting events.

We know we’re in America. We know we love America. We’re living here, by choice. Do we need this “tradition” that feels more like forced nationalism than a true representation of patriotism.

Don’t think it’s nationalism? Try not standing during the anthem, and I’m talking about pre-Kapernick. Try not removing your hat, not standing still during the anthem, or putting your hand over your heart. You’ll be accosted, only verbally, if you’re lucky.

I know this well. I remember back in the day when I struggled with going bald young. I didn’t want to remove my hat and sometimes I didn’t. It wasn’t any disrespect to the country or those who lost their lives fighting in the US Armed Forces. It was about me and my own stupid insecurities, but that didn’t stop people from yelling shit. I learned to head to the bathroom just before the song started.

The irony of people enforcing the standing, hat removal, silence, and hand over heart to celebrate the “freedom” that America allegedly stands for utterly ridiculous. That’s not patriotism. It’s nationalism. It’s forced nationalism similar to what one might find in North Korea or Russia. That ain’t what America is about.

The same goes for forcing kids to stand and recite a “Pledge of Allegiance” to a flag every morning. That doesn’t ring of old communist countries? How about pledging allegiance to the American people and their freedoms and equality for all?

I don’t love a flag or a bad song with questionably racist lyrics in the third verse. I love America for what it stands for. It’s unlike any other country on the planet. We are a diverse group of individuals, accepting the poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That’s what I love. I love the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, baseball, basketball, football, the Delta Blues—definitely not the systemic racism that caused the blues—and Van Halen. We ain’t perfect, well Van Halen is, but we’re working on things and ever-evolving.

We’ve grown as a country and, as a result, our consciousness has changed for the better. We’re more familiar with that third verse, which was intended to scare slaves from joining the British Army in the War of 1812 in return for their freedom.

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

Playing a song before sporting events is antiquated. 99% of the time the song is played between two American teams playing. It’s not the Olympics with different countries competing. So, what’s the point of it? To remind us we chose a boring, mediocre song, with a stolen melody from a British drinking song called the Anacreon Song (link below) as our national anthem? To make Black athletes and spectators feel uncomfortable? If you love the song, play it at home or wait for the Olympics.

Before you go criticizing Cuban as being un-American or hating America and the people who died fighting for it, maybe check out the Fallen Patriot Fund. That’s the fund Mark Cuban started to raise money for the families of service men and women, and first responders who were killed or seriously injured in the line of duty

Props to Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks for skipping the song. I hope others follow.

[UPDATE: NBA has since made the anthem playing mandatory before all games as a result of Cuban’s actions. They are on the wrong side of this issue.]