Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 April 23

= April 23 =

"Lift Every Voice and Sing"
I just noticed in this song's article that someone wanted to make this song the official national anthem in 2021. But I can't find any sites talking about whether the bill has been passed or defeated. Georgia guy (talk) 01:41, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * The congressional history of the bill can be found here. Last entry is 06/07/2022 (what is that? 7 June?), "Placed on the House Calendar, Calendar No. 81." Others may know what that means. The latest official word seems to be this house report. --Wrongfilter (talk) 05:59, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * A bill being placed on the calendar of the US House of Representatives means it has made it out of committee and is ready for consideration on the floor of the House. (And similarly for the US Senate.) This status does not mean it will eventually make it to the floor. This is controlled by the Speaker of the House. --Lambiam 06:16, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * The chance that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will take up this "woke", politically correct bill in the current Congress, I estimate at less than zero. Cullen328 (talk) 07:57, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Not national anthem. National hymn, of which the US doesn't currently have one. Tell me, what's "woke" or "politically correct" about it? --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 15:45, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Since the murder of George Floyd, the song has become associated with the BLM movement. The adjective woke, meaning "awareness of the existence of systemic social injustice" is used as a derogatory term by deniers of the existence of social injustice, who ascribe the belief in its existence as expressed by the BLM movement and critical race theory to some kind of epidemic delusion. --Lambiam 16:06, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Calling such a bill "politically correct" is offensive. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:18, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I was attempting to parody the opposition to the bill. Cullen328 (talk) 19:05, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * As always, it's unfortunate that there isn't more distinct punctuation for sneer quotes and fear quotes to differentiate them from quote quotes. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 19:29, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Is this a case of Poe's law in action? Or have I misinterpreted the law? Eliyohub (talk) 08:13, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes. Cullen328 (talk) 18:11, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes to both? David10244 (talk) 05:16, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Just to correct the "Since the murder of George Floyd" bit, I teach at a historically black high school, and we have frequently used "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at major events (often during Black History Month, or at major sporting events) along side the "Star Spangled Banner", and we always introduce it as the "Black National Anthem". We've been doing this as long as I can remember, certainly well before the George Floyd murders or Black Lives Matter.  -- Jayron 32 15:43, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't see a contradiction with the statement that the song has become associated with the BLM movement, much like "We Shall Overcome", originally a gospel song not conceived as a protest song, has become associated with the civil rights movement. --Lambiam 21:25, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Except that "Lift Every Voice" indeed was conceived as a civil rights song. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 22:48, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * "Lift Every Voice and Sing", originally a poem meant to inspire hope and determination in the civil rights struggle but not conceived as specifically protesting police brutality and racially motivated violence, has become associated with the BLM movement. --Lambiam 09:05, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I guess there wasn't any of that for the nascent civil rights movement of the late 19th century to oppose. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 13:22, 27 April 2023 (UTC)
 * As a resident of a Central European country who has never visited the US: What is a "historically black" high school? Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 17:58, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Exactly what it says. Historically black colleges and universities should give you an idea at the post-secondary level. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 18:03, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * It is a high school that is, historically, mostly serving an African American student population. Because of the U.S.'s long history of deliberate, legally-enforced segregation (and continued history of practical segregation through less obvious means), schools that historically serve a majority African American student population have, over time and because of that segregation, developed a unique culture and set of traditions that may be different and distinct from other schools.  For example, the school I teach at, in 2023, was 58% Black, 31% Hispanic, 7% White, 3% mixed race, and 1% Asian.  This is in a school district which overall is 57% White, 18% Black, and 11% Hispanic.  As jpgordon notes, the concept of an "HBCU" (Historically black colleges and universities) is well established in African American culture, and by extension, high schools of a similar cultural milieu also exist.  -- Jayron 32 18:42, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Jayron32 I think HBCUs are interesting.  I'm a generic, white American, but if I were to go back to college, I might look into Howard, for example. David10244 (talk) 05:20, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
 * HBCUs don't practice race-based admissions, so anyone can go to them. Some have actually become, over time, less than 50% African-American, though most still are predominantly so.  I have known several white people do have gone to one.  -- Jayron 32 10:47, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
 * @Jayron32 Cool. David10244 (talk) 09:59, 3 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I've always known it as the Negro National Anthem or the Black National Anthem. Some of the lines apply much more specifically to the Afro-American experience than to that of Americans in general: "Stony the road we trod,/
 * Bitter the chastening rod". Read the article (as I just did) for more background. —— Shakescene (talk) 09:59, 25 April 2023 (UTC)