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Some call for replacement of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' with new national anthem

'The Star-Spangled Banner' was officially made the country's national anthem in 1931 but before that, it was a poem called the Defence of Fort M'Henry.
Credit: WBNS-10TV
File photo - American flag

Amid a nationwide trend of removing monuments, statues and other symbols with ties to slavery, another question has been posed that has the internet abuzz.

Should we change the national anthem?

'The Star-Spangled Banner' was officially made the country's national anthem in 1931 but before that, it was a poem called the Defence of Fort M'Henry written by Francis Scott Key.

Key was reportedly an owner of slaves and once defended slaveholders' rights to own human property, according to The Smithsonian.

On Saturday, it was reported that a statue of Key in San Francisco was toppled by protesters during demonstrations against racial injustice.

Then on Tuesday, Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo Music, published an article with the headline: 'Why it might be time to finally replace 'The Star-Spangled Banner' with a new national anthem' which sent the internet into a frenzy.

A change.org petition is asking to change the national anthem to “America the Beautiful.”

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