Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) this week explained her opposition to naming the so-called "Black National Anthem" as the official hymn of the United States by insisting that she's "not a racist."
During an appearance on Rep. Matt Gaetz's Firebrand podcast, the two lawmakers talked about legislation that would make “Lift Every Voice and Sing” the national hymn. The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week despite opposition from Greene and Gaetz.
“My belief is that we are one country,” Gaetz opined. “We pledge our allegiance to one flag. We sing one anthem. I pray to one God, other people might not, but that’s my thing.”
“The notion that we would, like, erode the meaning and significance of our national anthem with the Black national anthem as the national anthem is crazy,” he added.
Greene suggested that the hymn is racist because it has been referred to as the Black National Anthem.
“We only have one national anthem and I’m not a racist!" she exclaimed. "So I don’t know why I need — why we need to elevate one race over the other."
"We’re all one nation under God," Greene continued. "And that’s the only anthem. We have one flag. And that’s what’s being anti-racist, when we don’t divide ourselves into groups, into races, into identities, ideologies, genders, 50 genders, or whatever there may be. That’s how we avoid those things, by being one nation with one flag and one anthem.”
Gaetz argued that "Amazing Grace" would be a more appropriate national hymn because it's a "song people know."
