“Q Mr. President, a cultural question for you. There is a version of the National Anthem in Spanish now. Do you believe it will hold the same value if sung in Spanish as in English?
THE PRESIDENT: No I don’t, because I think the National Anthem ought to be sung in English. And I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English, and they ought to learn to sing the National Anthem in English.” via whitehouse.gov
The national anthem has been in the news and on the minds of music teachers recently with the National Association of Music Education’s National Anthem Project taking place across the country. The recent creation of Nuestro Himno, (listen to it here) a Spanish updated version of the National Anthem, has expanded the dialogue of the National Anthem in new directions. (listen to an NPR story on Nuestro Himno)
George W. Bush has announced his opposition to Nuestro Himno saying it does not hold as much value as the National Anthem and that we should “not lose our national soul”. Bush is not the only person who is against this newest version of the National Anthem.
The newest version of the National Anthem is being attacked not only because of it being in Spanish but also within the context of anti-immigrant rhetoric which has been on the rise. With many actions taking place across the country in support of immigrant rights and legislation being worked on that will drastically affect both legal and illegal immigrants and the people who help them, the introduction of Nuestro Himno intertwines cultural, political and artistic issues.
With the number of Latino & Latina students growing and growing in our communities and schools and issues surrounding immigrants in the U.S. currently in the news it seems very appropriate to discuss Nuestro Himno and the many issues surrounding it in our classrooms.
It is difficult to discuss the national anthem and the newest version of it without discussing questions such as:
Who’s culture? Who’s country? Who’s values? Who’s anthem?
What is the national anthem supposed to represent?
Why do people sing the national anthem?
“Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said he would introduce a Senate resolution Monday “giving senators an opportunity to remind the country why we sing our national anthem in English.” Noting that America is a nation of immigrants, Alexander said, “We are proud of the countries we have come from, but we are prouder to be Americans.” via A.P. April 29 2006
Who is the “we” Sen. Alexender is speaking about?
One of our roles as teachers is to give voice to our students rather than telling them why they do things.
What are our students’ viewpoints on these issues?
Should we be teaching our students Nuestro Himno alongside the traditional English language national anthem?
Maybe our students should be sending politicians letters explaining why “they” do or do not sing the national anthem and if they do, which version and in what style they feel they should sing it.
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