Where are the people who cry that this country only has one anthem? They complain when Lift Every Voice And Sing is performed at a sporting event when God Bless America has been treated like a secondary anthem at some games for longer!
The MiLB team I used to work for brought in a cover band for a promo night once a year to play a pregame concert and before they played the main anthem, they did the Lee Greenwood song. Announcer told crowd to stand and remove hats.
That song took FOREVER when treated like a secondary anthem!
The Yankees used to play her version until someone uncovered a couple racist songs she did.
Which I'm glad because she sounded too boisterous and the poor recording quality from the 1930s or 40s didn't help. It sounded jarring when YES Network broadcasted it.
I used to work at a MiLB stadium where they sometimes did God Bless America pregame before the main anthem (never in the 7th inning though) and the crowd was told to stand and remove hats for both songs.
They did the Star Spangled Banner at every game, they only did God Bless America right before it whenever they had someone who wanted to perform it so that wasn't at every game.
I've been to Minor League games where a cover band played the Lee Greenwood song in lieu of God Bless America. (It was the band's personal choice.) The announcer said stand and remove hats for it. It was a very long song to stand and salute to as if it were the second anthem!
The ballpark I used to work at sometimes has someone sing God Bless America pregame right before the main anthem and the announcer asks everyone to stand and remove hats for both. I never heard any complaints about it.
I say the exact same thing when people complain about Lift Every Voice and Sing! Why don't they complain when God Bless America, America the Beautiful, or the Lee Greenwood song are treated like a second anthem at sporting events?
I used to work for a MiLB ballpark where they would sometimes do God Bless America before the Star Spangled Banner and the announcer would ask everyone to stand and remove hats.
