Gladys Knight To Sing National Anthem At Super Bowl; Reaction To The Decision Mixed

Gladys Knight (Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com)

THE NFL will have GLADYS KNIGHT sing the national anthem at this year’s SUPER BOWL LIII - and KNIGHT is receiving a mix of positive and negative comments for the decision.

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION reports, "All of the artists who have agreed to participate in anything related to the FEB. 3rd game at MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM have endured the same response - some fans delight in their inclusion and others classify their involvement as selling out to the NFL. Critics believe that anyone performing at a SUPER BOWL-related event is endorsing their treatment of former SAN FRANCISCO 49ers quarterback COLIN KAEPERNICK, who hasn’t played since 2016 after his peaceful protest of 'taking a knee' during the anthem marked him as some kind of radical objector."

KNIGHT told the paper, "I understand that Mr. KAEPERNICK is protesting two things, and they are police violence and injustice. It is unfortunate that our National Anthem has been dragged into this debate when the distinctive senses of the National Anthem and fighting for justice should each stand alone. I am here today and on SUNDAY, FEB. 3rd to give the Anthem back its voice, to stand for that historic choice of words, the way it unites us when we hear it and to free it from the same prejudices and struggles I have fought long and hard for all my life, from walking back hallways, from marching with our social leaders, from using my voice for good — I have been in the forefront of this battle longer than most of those voicing their opinions to win the right to sing our country’s Anthem on a stage as large as the SUPER BOWL LII. No matter who chooses to deflect with this narrative and continue to mix these two in the same message, it is not so and cannot be made so by anyone speaking it. I pray that this National Anthem will bring us all together in a way never before witnessed and we can move forward and untangle these truths which mean so much to all of us.”

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