OPINION:
Latin pop singer Vanessa Hernandez, known as Nezza, was invited to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Dodgers vs. Giants game in Los Angeles and instead of belting out the anthem in English, she chose Spanish. She had been told not to but did anyway. And then she cut a TikTok about how sad and scared and oh so sad she had been when the stadium rep told her she had to sing in English, and how brave she was she “did it anyway,” as she put it.
What part of America’s national anthem did she not understand?
The song came by way of Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer who watched firsthand the British barrage of Fort McHenry in 1814 — which came shortly after the same British burned down the U.S. Capitol and White House and Treasury — and whose heart grew heavy at the thought of all the casualties and destruction that would result. Hour after hour passed, and as Key wrote: “It seemed as though Mother Earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone.” Then the smoke cleared and Key saw in what he later described as “the dawn’s early light,” the American flag waving proudly over the fort. He knew then the Americans had prevailed against the mighty British. He immediately penned the poetic words of what later became America’s national anthem.
“’The Star-Spangled Banner’ is a symbol of American history that ranks with the Statue of Liberty and the Charters of Freedom,” said Brent Glass, former National Museum of American History director.
It’s sung in English because it’s America’s anthem, America’s symbol of might and resilience, America’s rally call of unity and freedom and liberty. It’s representative of America’s spirit.
It’s not Colombian-Dominican, the named country on Nezza’s T-shirt at Dodgers Stadium. It’s not a Spanish symbol, as Nezza tried to spin.
“Para mi gente,” Nezza wrote in a caption to her TikTok video. “I stand with you. Yesterday was easily one of the scariest days of my life. I sand ‘El Pendon Estrellado,’ the OFFICIAL Spanish star spangled banner (commissioned by President Roosevelt) at the Dodgers game after being told I couldn’t. And I’m so proud that I did.”
She said in a second TikTok, all teary-eyed and emotional, “Bear with me, ‘cause I’m still very shooken [sic] up and emotional. ‘El Pendon Estrellado’ was officially commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department as a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s good neighbor policy to foster a better relationship with Latin America. I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of ‘no,’ especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. … I just could not believe when [I was told] ‘no.’ I just felt like I needed to do it.”
Actually, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was made the national anthem of the United States on April 21, 1930, via an act of Congress, H.R. 14. Rep. John Linthicum of Maryland introduced this bill in 1929, and he campaigned heartily for its passage.
Nezze slaps America’s face by refusing to recognize the truthful symbolism of the anthem. She’s like pop star Ariana Grande picking a donut in a bakery in 2015 while saying, “I hate America.” She’s like football’s Colin Kaepernick in 2016 taking a knee on the field during the playing of the anthem, and wearing pig socks during a San Francisco 49ers practice to signify his disgust with police.
Nezza can take her Spanish rendition and — you know how the saying goes.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on X @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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