A new rendition of the national anthem has drawn outrage from conservatives.
Singer-songwriter Jill Scott's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" made headlines after she performed it Sunday at New Orleans' Essence Festival. The annual music festival, which takes place over the Fourth of July weekend, is one of the largest African-American music events in the U.S.
Scott's rendition refers to the Black experience in America by changing the lyrics to "Oh, say, can you see, by the blood in the streets, this place doesn't smile on you, colored child. Whose blood built this land with sweat and their hands. But we'll die in this place and your memory erased. Oh say, does this truth hold any weight? This is not the land of the free but the home of the slaves."
But while some commended Scott for her take on the song, others were angered by her decision to use the anthem to express a critical view of America.
"No one should use the National Anthem to express their hatred for America. Too many men and women have sacrificed their lives for our great nation to tolerate this," Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado tweeted. "Shameful."
Another Republican, former Florida congressional candidate Lavern Spicer, slammed Scott for her "WOKE rendition" on "how oppressed Black people are," noting the singer's estimated net worth and asking, "In what way is she oppressed?'
Joey Mannarino, a political strategist and former co-host of the pro-Donald-Trump radio program Your Voice America, called it "heartbreaking" for him, as a big fan of the singer, to see Scott's performance.
"I love Jill Scott. She is the pride of Philadelphia and an icon. This is so heartbreaking for me to see," Mannarino wrote on Twitter. "I could name you every song she's ever done. This might be a bridge too far for me though. So sad to see her go this route. She is so talented. She doesn't need to go this route."
This is not the first time Scott has performed this version of the anthem, but Sunday marked her highest-profile performance of the song. She's performed it while touring this year, and on Sunday she revealed that she wrote the lyrics 32 years ago when she was a teenager living in North Philadelphia.
Despite the criticisms of Scott's rendition, she received some high praise for her artistry.
Responding to Spicer's tweet, one Twitter user said he was "still a huge fan of Jill Scott" and noted that the singer was performing for an audience at the Essence Festival, not an Independence Day event.
"Artists deserve creative freedom to express pain, whether we agree or not. That's what freedom and liberty is all about," @GJChamberlain wrote.
The music festival also applauded Scott, calling her song "the only National Anthem we will be recognizing from this day forward."
During a March concert in Philadelphia, Scott told the crowd that she doesn't intend to divide people when she sings "home of the slave."
"When I say that, we are in a place that makes us slaves to consumerism, it makes us slaves to social media, makes us slaves to... lies that don't make no kind of sense," she said. "But we follow the stories like suckas, like slaves, to whatever kinds of negativity that doesn't benefit us as a people, as a culture nor as a society."
