During Black History Month, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known widely as the unofficial Black national anthem, rings out from Black churches and schools in our community. It’s an anthem of freedom and hope.

But some far-right conservatives took offense when actress Sheryl Lee Ralph performed the song during the Sunday (Feb. 12) pregame show at Super Bowl LVII.

Kari Lake, a Trump-backed Republican who has refused to accept her Arizona gubernatorial loss in November, declined to stand for the Black national anthem.

"Our girl is against the idea of a 'black National Anthem' for the same reason she's against a 'white National Anthem,'" her campaign team tweeted, along with a photo of her sitting during Ralph’s rendition. "She subscribes to the idea of "one Nation, under God."

Likewise, Colorado’s GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted her objections: “America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM. Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness.”

Originally a hymn authored by NAACP leader James Weldon Johson more than a century ago, the song became an anthem during the darkest years of the civil rights movement.

At the start of the 2021 season, the NFL announced it will continue to play a recording of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before games, following the global racial justice protests over the police killings of George Floyd and Breona Taylor.

That decision also came in the aftermath of a controversial campaign initiated by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to protest racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.

According to Vulture, Ralph was the first performer to sing the song on the field during the Super Bowl pregame show.

“To me, that shows a major effort by the NFL to be truly inclusive, to say, ‘We’re going to represent all people,’” Ralph said at a press conference Feb. 9, according to Vulture. “What a way to bring us all together.”