I love the Olympics. The world comes together, in person and on screens. We learn about sports we’ve never played (I want to play team handball!) We learn about individual athletes and in doing so we learn about the culture and politics of their countries.
Although American TV emphasizes U.S. victories (we are such winners!) we still get to appreciate the amazing feats of gymnasts such as Simone Biles and 17 yr. old Kaylia Nemour, swimmers like Léon Marchand (four individual golds), distance runners like Sifan Hassan (bronze medals in 5K and 10K and then gold in the marathon! What?).
And we can thrill to upsets such as Cole Hocker’s gold in the 1,500 meters (what a race!), Letsile Tebogo’s gold in the 200 meters, and Botswana’s silver in the men’s 4x400 relay.
Then come the anthems, which bring it all back to nationalism. And the anthems have problems.
They all seem to have a theme of “We’re better than anyone else,” which is less problematic in a college fight song than an anthem which educates children (and adults) on a regular basis. We are expected to rise for an anthem, which underscores its special, sacred quality. And athletes, like soldiers, are expected to put hand on heart to show the love and respect for …. the flag? the nation-state? The official history? Their fellow countrymen? Which?
"Deutschland uber Alles” certainly sounds bad, given a certain history, but it was adopted as a national anthem to emphasize Germany as a national union over loyalty to the constituent states, e.g., Baden, Bavaria, Prussia.
Look instead at a rousing anthem we all know, the glorious “Marseillaise.” When I hear it, I often picture Rick’s Café Americain in Casablanca at the moment when the French Moroccans, led by Rick’s girlfriend Yvonne, rise to overwhelm Major Strasser and his men who have tried to taunt them by singing “Die Wacht am Rhein,” a patriotic song based on German-French enmity.
But take a closer look at La Marseillaise – especially the last lines of the first and most important verse:
Aux armes, citoyens! To arms, citizens! Formez vos bataillons! Form your battalions! Machons! Oui, marchons! We march, yes, march Qu'un sang impur. So that impure blood Abreuve nos sillons! Will water our fields!
Sang impur might be understandable as wartime rhetoric in 1782 (war with Austria)
But it has a very dark impact today. In November 2015 ISIS-affiliated terrorists hit Paris with coordinated attacks that killed over 130 and injured over 400 others. When the French assembly next met, right-wing members rose to sing La Marseillaise. Other deputies rose to join them but one could see hesitation on many faces, and some silence at “Q’un sang impur.” That unfortunate phrase didn’t seem likely to calm things down — anymore than to insist on publishing images of the prophet as a “fuck you” to Muslims. Free press, sure, sure, but is it really necessary to provoke people by stomping on their religious beliefs even when they seem unserious to us.
The right-wing in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.S. and elsewhere appeal to ethnic nationalism which is a combination of racism and xenophobia. As Trump has said about the undocumented in the U.S., “They are poisoning our nation’s blood.” This resonates quite clearly with Hitler’s attacks on Jews and others: “Whenever Aryans have mingled their blood with that of an inferior race, the result has been the downfall of the people who were the standard-bearers of a higher culture.”
So, when a French person wins an Olympic gold medal, they play La Marseillaise, without words, of course. But many know the words and they don’t seem to represent the Olympic ideal.
But there are other anthems. “Conquer we must, if our cause it is just.” Well, that does capture U.S. foreign policy towards Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Philippines, South America, Iran, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries and regions of the world. Of course, the definition of “just” is up to political officials — elected for most of our history by white men and very often by moneyed interests. And every attempt to conquer was justified by a lie.
Russia? Check out this final verse:
From the southern seas to the polar edge
Our forests and fields are spread out.
You are the only one in the world! You are the only one -
the native land so kept by God!
Southern seas? Isn’t there another country between Russia and the best ports on the Black Sea? Oh-oh!
Anthems indoctrinate.
Check out some other national anthems. Post comments here if you find or are already aware of some troubling ones.
...Playin' in the band. Good on you, Jim. Look forward to more of your stuff here.