May 2018 — Alice Cheung leans into the microphone at a Legislative Council hearing in Hong Kong. The Chinese government recently passed a law making disrespect of the national anthem punishable by up to three years in prison. The city is now seeking public opinion on enforcing that law in a manner consistent with its semi-autonomous, “one country, two systems” constitutional framework.[1] Cheung, the 21-year-old leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, reads a prepared statement:
I want to vomit every time I hear the national anthem. Every time the national anthem is played on TV, I am the one in the family who jumps up to switch the channel. Because every time the national anthem is played, it is proof that this killing regime still exists and holds power. So I would bow my head and observe a moment of silence.[2]
An opposing citizen lashes out, “I am personally very disappointed and ashamed of [Ms. Cheung’s] speech. As a university student, if you would vomit and observe silence to the national anthem I recommend that you leave Hong Kong as soon as possible. You don’t need to put up with this national anthem anymore, and don’t fight to mess up Hong Kong!”[3] Moments later, security officials surround the student-activist and escort her out of the hearing. Video of the event circulates on the internet, and violent messages abound: “Do you know people in the mainland all want to attack you?”[4] Chinese state media brand Cheung an “enemy of the people.”[5]
October 2016 — In the parking lot outside of New Era Field, a circle of NFL fans wearing Buffalo Bills jerseys scream, “Kill him! Get him! Tackle the Muslim!”[6] The hometown Bills are hosting the visiting San Francisco 49ers later this afternoon. At the center of the circle, a dummy stands draped in a red Colin Kaepernick jersey and topped with an afro wig. Holding beer cans and American flags, the group cheers as its members take turns tackling the effigy of the 49ers quarterback. Nearby, a vendor sells T-shirts bearing Kaepernick’s image in a sniper’s crosshairs, with the text, “WANTED: Notorious Disgrace to America.”[7]
Another set of fans marches by. Holding signs reading “Bills Fans for Black Lives,” the group sings in a call-and-response fashion: “Who are we? Bills Fans. What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.”[8] Since the start of the 2016 season, Kaepernick has refused to stand during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When reporters questioned his motive, he explained, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”[9] Upon the suggestion of Nate Boyer, a former NFL player and Army Green Beret, Kaepernick switched from sitting to kneeling during the anthem — a way to show respect for military veterans while continuing his protest against racism and police brutality. Boyer had described to Kaepernick how “Soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother’s grave… to show respect.”[10]
Inside the stadium, the capacity crowd dressed in Bills red, white, and blue spontaneously erupts into a chant — “USA…USA…” — before the playing of the national anthem.[11] Teammates Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, and Eli Harold each takes a knee as a uniformed police officer stands behind them saluting the flag.[12] Boos rain down on Kaepernick and the 49ers as they take the field for their first drive.[13] When asked about the backlash, the quarterback told reporters after the game, “I don’t understand what’s un-American about fighting for liberty and justice for everybody, for the equality this country says it stands for.”[14]
November 2015 — Fans of the Hong Kong national football (soccer) team line up outside Mong Kok Stadium ahead of the highly anticipated World Cup qualifying match against China.[15] Hong Kong police have dispatched 1,200 officers to the stadium and surrounding neighborhoods — a presence far exceeding that of a usual match, and equal to the number used to suppress the pro-democracy “Umbrella Revolution” protests one year before.[16] During those 2014 demonstrations, Hongkongers engaged in a 79-day series of boycotts and occupations after the mainland government revoked an agreement that would have granted the city universal suffrage and open elections by 2017.[17] The protests earned the nicknames the “Umbrella Revolution” and “Umbrella Movement,” as umbrellas were used as means of protection against tear gas during police confrontations.[18]
Hong Kong has its own national football team, but, due to its status as a special administrative region under the authority of China, FIFA regulations dictate that the Chinese national anthem be played before matches. Galvanized by the pro-autonomy movement, and angered by a racist advertisement issued by the Chinese Football Association that warned Chinese fans, “not to underestimate Hong Kong’s ‘black skin, white skin, and yellow skin team,’”[19] Hongkongers have embraced a tradition of booing the “March of the Volunteers” and waving signs reading “Hong Kong is Not China” during matches.[20] In response to a booing incident before Hong Kong’s victory over the Maldives in June, FIFA issued an official warning to the Hong Kong Football Association. In the letter, the Deputy Secretary to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee requested that the HKFA “guarantee that incidents of such nature do not occur again in the future. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee would be left with no other option than to impose sanctions against your association, should such incidents recur.”[21]
For the first time,[22] at this match, China and Hong Kong fans must use separate entrances and restrooms at Mong Kok stadium.[23] Signs with the word “BOO” printed in bold black letters are distributed among the members of the crowd inside the gates.[24] As kickoff approaches, players from Hong Kong and China assemble on the sideline for the playing of the national anthem. As the “March of the Volunteers” sounds, boos erupt from the Hong Kong crowd. Some scattered fans, fearful that FIFA may impose sanctions against their team, unsuccessfully attempt to quell the protest. Other contingents chant “We are Hong Kong!” throughout the song. Following the anthem ceremony, the stadium observes a minute of silence for the victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. The hard-fought battle ends in a 0-0 draw, which Hongkongers embrace as a moral victory.[25]
No acts of violence occur at the match, but FIFA reopens disciplinary proceedings and fines the HKFA 10,000 Swiss francs for fan misbehavior.[26] After several booing incidents, the Chinese government eventually passes legislation in 2017 criminalizing disrespect of the anthem.[27]
* * *
Anthems bind people — to a country, to a cause, or to each other. But, traditionally speaking, political anthems do so by outlining stark “us vs. them” narratives. In analyzing the “political force”[28] of anthems, Barry Shank notes:
The anthem’s traditional function is to delineate political bodies, to define human group by the fealty to an object that unites them… Traditional anthems function most effectively when the central object of unity is clear, the boundaries of loyalty are easily perceptible, and the friend-enemy distinction is in dominance.[29]
Chinese poet Tian Han originally penned the lyrics to the “March of the Volunteers” for inclusion in the 1935 film Children of Troubled Times, which chronicles a young man’s rejection of Western culture in favor of joining a volunteer army fighting against the “invading Japanese in China’s northeast.”[30] Underscoring the friend-enemy distinction, the final lines of the anthem read, “Braving the enemies’ fire! March on!”[31]
“The Star-Spangled Banner,” as many may recall, draws its lyrics from Francis Scott Key’s 1814 poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which details the author’s account of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Colin Kaepernick’s protest, however, has sparked renewed interest in the forgotten verses of the anthem.[32] In addition to the British army, the seldom-sung third verse celebrates the demise of another “enemy” in the mind of Key — the thousands of former slaves who fought for the British as a means to escape American bondage: “No refuge could save the hireling and slave/ From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”[33] Key, who himself owned slaves, defended the rights of slave owners as District Attorney of Washington,[34] and described Africans in America as “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.”[35] The complete context and content of “The Star-Spangled Banner” certainly trouble its protected status as a symbol of “liberty,” “justice,” or “unity.”
But as Alice Cheung and Colin Kaepernick both demonstrate, the anthem raises questions not only of the symbolic, but also the somatic. For Cheung, the “March of the Volunteers” not only carries a set of meanings — for her, “it is proof that this killing regime still exists and holds power”[36] — but also produces an affective response, a visceral nausea that drives her urge to resist the song’s implications. For Kaepernick, his political convictions shape his unwillingness to heed the anthem’s call to “stand up to show pride” in the flag and its contested symbolism. Control over the body is indeed explicitly enforced in the new national anthem law in China, which requires individuals to “stand to attention and sing in a solemn manner” when the anthem is played at public events.[37] Title 36 of the U.S. Code specifies that, “During a rendition of the national anthem… persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart.”[38] While use of the world “should” indicates that such requirements are not punishable by law,[39] as they are in China, individuals who refrain from standing are likely to face great public scrutiny and ostracization.
The question remains as to how strictly the new Chinese legislation will be enforced, but the potential for control over its subjects’ bodies raises significant questions. The specter of prosecution has indeed already inspired new performative acts of resistance in Hong Kong. In April 2018, members of the pro-democracy Demosistō party engaged in “flash mob” protests at crowded intersections in the city, “freezing” in place as the anthem played.[40] The party expressed in a corresponding social media post, “What is the national anthem law? When this song is played, you have to show utmost respect; When this song is played, the freedom of you and me will be frozen… They will infiltrate into every inch of your life, patriotism will affect you and me, it is everywhere and unavoidable. Only in fighting against the evil laws can freedom begin to flow once again.”[41] In September, a Demosistō activist dressed in a Winnie-the-Pooh costume — a character frequently used to mock Chinese President Xi Jinping[42] — marched through the streets alongside other party members dressed in black business suits and holding cardboard rifles. With the national anthem blaring through a megaphone, an activist shouted, “Today Emperor Xi is here to tell us about the national anthem law — stop taking photos, stop laughing, show some respect. You will be sent to jail if you laugh.”[43]
As the stadium serves as a prominent stage for the performance of national anthems, stadium protests like the ones in Hong Kong and the United States underscore multiple intersections between sports, sound, and politics. The sporting event, particularly in the case of a match like Hong Kong vs. China, inevitably symbolizes real-world political tensions and provides a powerful emotional outlet for its attendees. As James Porteous reflected in the South China Morning Post, “Should Hong Kong football fans forget the last 150 — or more accurately the last 18 — years and imagine that a game against China is just a pleasant kickabout between 22 fit young fellows devoid of any socio-political or historic context? Of course they shouldn’t, and of course they didn’t.”[44] Moreover, these events demonstrate the potency of sound — anthems, chants, collective booing, and more — in heightening emotions and mobilizing political sentiment among a sporting public. Politically-charged soundscapes within sporting environments — what we can call “athletic aurality”[45] — absorb real-world political tensions, and can enable acts of resistance to in turn spill outside the confines of the stadium and impact politics at large.
In addition to serving as a symbolic political battleground, national anthem protests reveal the stadium’s potential as a site where aesthetic interventions can unsettle the articulations of power that reinforce political norms. Breaking the illusion of sport as a terrain outside of politics, these acts of cultural resistance render the stadium an “agonistic public space,”[46] a concept we can borrow from Chantal Mouffe’s discussion of the relationship between politics and critical artistic practices. As she describes, public spaces serve as important sites where “common sense” becomes entrenched through “sedimented hegemonic practices” or “practices of articulation through which a given order is created and the meaning of social institutions is fixed.”[47] The compulsory performance of the “March of the Volunteers” before soccer matches at Mong Kok Stadium, for instance, constitutes a hegemonic practice that serves to normalize Chinese authority over Hong Kong and its citizens. We can find countless instances where dominant attitudes regarding gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and other dimensions of culture become articulated through the aesthetic environments of sport. But these same spaces can also serve as sites of counter-hegemonic resistance and “disarticulation.”[48] As aesthetic interventions, stadium protests challenge the norms and prescribed identities articulated through anthem rituals, producing reverberations that affect the broader political world.
The American protest tradition has relied mostly on visual interventions into the anthem ritual, but nevertheless these actions often produce sonic results — e.g., the jeers that showered Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers in Buffalo. In describing the visual significance of his and Kaepernick’s gesture, Eric Reid noted, “We chose to kneel because it’s a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy.”[49] Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the former NBA player who refused to stand for the national anthem during the 1996 season, also realigned his body in accordance with his principles. Abdul-Rauf argued that participating in the anthem ceremony was incompatible with “his religious beliefs as a Muslim,”[50] and that the American flag stood as “a symbol of oppression, of tyranny.”[51] After receiving a suspension from the league[52] and death threats from basketball fans[53] in light of his decision not to stand, he arrived at a compromise; rather than sit, he would silently stand in line with his teammates in a prayer posture, and “offer a prayer, my own prayer for those who are suffering — Muslim, Caucasian, African American and Asian or whoever is in that position, whoever is experiencing difficulty. That is what I cry out for.”[54] When American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, they wore black gloves to signal “strength and unity,”[55] removed their shoes and wore only black socks to “symbolize the poverty that still plagued so much of black America,”[56] and wore beads around their necks to “represent the history of lynching.”[57] In his memoir, John Carlos described the audible wrath that followed: “The people [in the stands] who weren’t booing were screaming the national anthem… They screamed it to the point where it seemed less a national anthem than a barbaric call to arms.”[58]
Aesthetic interventions like these underscore the inherent political dimension of national anthems, but other categories of song and sound also wield political force. In addition to the traditional political anthem, Shank discusses “pop anthems”[59] and their historical connection to social movements. He notes that through songs such as Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,”[60] the American Civil Rights Movement “established the modern sense that popular music could be a political force and that the direction of this force could be toward justice.”[61] While pop anthems usually lack the “antagonistic” lyrical content that national anthems convey via “friend-enemy distinctions,” they can also carry political weight: “Pop anthems can reinforce already existing political communities, but these anthems can also do more. The social experience of the simultaneous comprehension of relations of timbre, rhythm, and organized waves of tonal exploration and resolution can force a recognition of mutual predicament and mutual pleasure.”[62] During the 2014 protests in Hong Kong, thousands of demonstrators took to singing “Boundless Oceans Vast Skies” by the Hong Kong-based rock band Beyond, rendering it the unofficial anthem of the Umbrella Movement.[63] Regarding the use of his song “Alright” during Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, Kendrick Lamar noted, “You might not have heard it on the radio all day, but you’re seeing it in the streets, you’re seeing it on the news, and you’re seeing it in communities, and people felt it.”[64]
The politically-activated “organized waves of tonal exploration” that Shank describes, however, can manifest in even more simplified forms than the popular song structure. Daniel Paul Garrett describes recent protest culture in Hong Kong as a “rising counter-hegemonic chorus.”[65] While Garrett employs this phrase as a metaphor for the coalescing of the actions and expressions of visual protest in the city,[66] in the case of the booing of the national anthem at Mong Kok stadium the counter-hegemonic chorus materializes as an actual sonic entity. Soccer fans in Hong Kong have also certainly used visual displays in their stadium protests, holding signs with text such as “Hong Kong is not China,” and turning their backs to the anthem ceremony.[67] But in the absence of their own official anthem, collective booing over the “March of the Volunteers” has proven to be a concise yet provocative method of resistance.
If the national anthem articulates the power of the state through the ritual presentation of organized sound, the collective “boo” in Hong Kong serves as its counter-hegemonic sonic resistance — a counter-anthem. The collective boo of a massive crowd produces raw, vibrational power through the simple gesture of unified voice. The boo shakes the bleachers below one’s feet, penetrates the chest, and makes all inside the stadium aware of their interconnected physicality. In conceiving the boo as an aesthetic intervention and counter-anthem, the reduction of sonic material to a simple, fundamental, resonant frequency actually heightens its affective intensity. The boo is an act of refusal and rejection, but as a counter-anthem it produces a feeling of shared political potential and belonging. It produces a physical bond through shared gesture and aurality. More than a simple political statement, the boo embodies the very democratic principles that have thus far eluded its chorus.
Recent and historical cases of national anthem resistance unsettle assumptions about the meaning and function of these songs and their associated rituals. They also point beyond the symbolic to the somatic; the physical nausea that Alice Cheung experiences upon hearing the “March of the Volunteers” and the audio-physical fury unleashed among those offended by protests during “The Star-Spangled Banner” both exemplify the anthem’s ability to produce intense bodily reactions. When acts of protest take place inside of athletic stadiums — through the gestures of individuals, like Colin Kaepernick, or collectives, like the fans of the Hong Kong national football team — they puncture the myth that sports can exist as a “neutral” realm outside of politics. These acts reveal how sporting environments serve as sites where, through practices like the performance of national anthems, political norms become inscribed among a public. But these sites can also provide important platforms for the disarticulation of those norms, and the furthering of counter-hegemonic resistance through aesthetic gesture.
Two years have passed since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during “The Star Spangled-Banner”; even though he has been de facto banned from participation in the NFL, his actions remain a divisive topic in American political discourse.[68] Three years have passed since Hong Kong fans first booed the “March of the Volunteers” at Mong Kok Stadium, but the recent unfurling of the National Anthem Law has only stoked further acts of performative resistance. Placed in conversation, these acts of resistance affirm the multi-directional manner in which organized sound — whether song, scream, or silence — can reflect and reshape relationships of power around the world.
[1] Lao, Stuart, et al. “China Imposes Anthem Law on Hong Kong, Raising Spectre of Jail Terms.” South China Morning Post, 4 Nov. 2017, http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2118430/china-imposes-national-anthem-law-hong-kong-raising-spectre.
[2] Xu, Vicky Xiuzhong, and Xiaoning Mo. “Hong Kong Student Slammed by Chinese Press for Saying the National Anthem Makes Her ‘Vomit’.” ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 9 May 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-09/china-imposes-national-anthem-law-on-hong-kong/9739240.
[3] ibid.
[4] “Hong Kong Student Leader Draws Fury in China over Anthem.” The Straits Times, 14 May 2018, http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-student-leader-draws-fury-in-china-over-anthem.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Sanchez, Mark W. “Bills Fans Play ‘Tackle the Muslim’ upon Kaepernick’s Arrival.” New York Post, 18 Oct. 2016, https://nypost.com/2016/10/16/bills-fans-colin-kaepernick-welcome-is-breathtakingly-horrid/.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Wagner-McGough, Sean. “LOOK: Bills, 49ers Fans React to Colin Kaepernick’s Start with Vulgar Signs, Shirts.” CBSSports.com, CBS Sports, 16 Oct. 2016, http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/look-bills-49ers-fans-react-to-colin-kaepernicks-start-with-vulgar-signs-shirts/.
[9] Wyche, Steve. “Colin Kaepernick Explains Why He Sat during National Anthem.” NFL.com History, National Football League, 27 Aug. 2016, http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem.
[10] Brinson, Will. “Here’s How Nate Boyer Got Colin Kaepernick to Go from Sitting to Kneeling.” CBSSports.com, 27 Sept. 2016, https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-nate-boyer-got-colin-kaepernick-to-go-from-sitting-to-kneeling/.
[11] Sanchez, Mark W. “Bills Fans Play ‘Tackle the Muslim’ upon Kaepernick’s Arrival.” New York Post, 18 Oct. 2016, https://nypost.com/2016/10/16/bills-fans-colin-kaepernick-welcome-is-breathtakingly-horrid/.
[12] Wagner-McGough, Sean. “LOOK: Bills, 49ers Fans React to Colin Kaepernick’s Start with Vulgar Signs, Shirts.” CBSSports.com, CBS Sports, 16 Oct. 2016, http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/look-bills-49ers-fans-react-to-colin-kaepernicks-start-with-vulgar-signs-shirts/.
[13] Brady, Erik. “Colin Kaepernick Kneels for Anthem Again, Gets Booed by Fans in Buffalo.” USA Today, 16 Oct. 2016, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/49ers/2016/10/16/colin-kaepernick-booed-buffalo-bills-anthem-protest-kneel/92201030/.
[14] Bieler, Des. “Colin Kaepernick Comments on Bills Fans, Says Anthem Protests Are ‘Very Patriotic’.” The Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/10/17/colin-kaepernick-comments-on-bills-fans-says-anthem-protests-are-very-patriotic/.
[15] Porteous, James. “Recap: How Hong Kong Delighted Home Fans with 0-0 Draw against China in Frantic World Cup Qualifier.” South China Morning Post, 26 Nov. 2015, https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1879851/hong-kong-v-china-follow-all-action-live.
[16] Zeng, Vivienne. “1,200 Police to Stand Guard at Hong Kong vs China World Cup Qualifier – Report.” Hong Kong Free Press, 12 Nov. 2015, https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/11/12/1200-police-to-stand-guard-at-hong-kong-vs-china-world-cup-qualifier-report/.
[17] Huang, Zheping. “On the Second Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, a Look Back at Its Most Iconic Moments.” Quartz, 28 Sept. 2016, https://qz.com/794119/photos-on-the-second-anniversary-of-hong-kongs-umbrella-movement-a-look-back-at-its-most-iconic-moments/.
[18] Kaiman, Jonathan. “Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution – the Guardian Briefing.” The Guardian, 30 Sept. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/-sp-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-pro-democracy-protests.
[19] Kin-Wa, Chan. “Hong Kong Football Fans Ignore Pleas Not to Boo China National Anthem Ahead of Win over Maldives.” South China Morning Post, 17 June 2015, https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1823044/boos-ring-out-national-anthem-another-world-cup-soccer-qualifier.
[20] Denyer, Simon. “Hong Kong Sports Fans Have Booed China’s National Anthem for Years. Now They Might Go to Jail.” The Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/17/people-protest-the-national-anthem-at-sporting-events-in-china-too-now-they-face-jail.
[21] Wong, Vicky. “FIFA Warn Hong Kong Football Fans Not to Boo during Chinese National Anthem.” Hong Kong Free Press, 13 July 2015, https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/07/13/fifa-warn-hong-kong-football-fans-not-to-boo-at-chinese-national-anthem/.
[22] Liu, Juliana. “Hong Kong-China: A Growing Football Rivalry or Just Politics?” BBC News, 17 Nov. 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-34840747.
[23] “One Country, Two Cisterns as Hong Kong, China Fans Get Separate Toilets.” Daily Mail Online, 16 Nov. 2015, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3320152/One-country-two-cisterns-Hong-Kong-China-fans-separate-toilets.html
[24] Porteous, James. “Recap: How Hong Kong Delighted Home Fans with 0-0 Draw against China in Frantic World Cup Qualifier.” South China Morning Post, 26 Nov. 2015, https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1879851/hong-kong-v-china-follow-all-action-live
[25] Ibid.
[26] Porteous, James. “Hong Kong Football Association Fined Again by Fifa for Booing China National Anthem.” South China Morning Post, 15 Jan. 2016, https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1901082/hong-kong-football-association-fined-again-fifa-booing-china
[27] Lao, Stuart, et al. “China Imposes Anthem Law on Hong Kong, Raising Spectre of Jail Terms.” South China Morning Post, 4 Nov. 2017, http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2118430/china-imposes-national-anthem-law-hong-kong-raising-spectre.
[28] Shank, Barry. The Political Force of Musical Beauty. Duke University Press, 2014.
[29] Ibid., 40.
[30] Bandurski, David. “The Chinese National Anthem Has Had a Long Relationship with America.” Quartz, 30 Aug. 2017, https://qz.com/1017782/the-chinese-national-anthems-long-relationship-with-america/.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Schwarz, Jon. “Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery.” The Intercept, 28 Aug. 2016, https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-is-righter-than-you-know-the-national-anthem-is-a-celebration-of-slavery/.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Wilson, Christopher. “Where’s the Debate on Francis Scott Key’s Slave-Holding Legacy?” Smithsonian.com, 1 July 2016, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wheres-debate-francis-scott-keys-slave-holding-legacy-180959550/.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Xu, Vicky Xiuzhong, and Xiaoning Mo. “Hong Kong Student Slammed by Chinese Press for Saying the National Anthem Makes Her ‘Vomit’.” ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 9 May 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-09/china-imposes-national-anthem-law-on-hong-kong/9739240.
[37] Shepherd, Christian. “China Makes Disrespect of National Anthem a Crime.” Reuters, 1 Sept. 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-law-anthem/china-makes-disrespect-of-national-anthem-a-crime-idUSKCN1BC4HK.
[38] “36 U.S. Code § 301 – National Anthem.” Legal Information Institute, Cornell, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/36/301.
[39] Lord, Debbie. “Is Colin Kaepernick Breaking the Law by Not Standing for the National Anthem?” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 27 Sept. 2017, https://www.ajc.com/news/national/colin-kaepernick-breaking-the-law-not-standing-for-the-national-anthem/cRjlkGqATbYZT3S3AkzJGK/.
[40] Cheng, Kris. “Video: Hong Kong Democracy Activists ‘Freeze’ for Chinese National Anthem in Mong Kok Stunt.” Hong Kong Free Press, 16 Apr. 2018, https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/17/video-hong-kong-democracy-activists-freeze-chinese-national-anthem-mong-kok-stunt/.
[41] Ibid.
[42] Cheng, Kris. “Video: Hong Kong Democracy Activists March with ‘Xi the Pooh’ in National Anthem Protest.” Hong Kong Free Press, 10 Sept. 2018, https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/09/10/video-hong-kong-democracy-activists-march-xi-pooh-national-anthem-protest/.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Porteous, James. “Keep Politics out of Sport? Heaven Forbid, as Hong Kong v China Showed.” South China Morning Post, 22 Nov. 2015, https://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/1880497/keep-politics-out-sport-heaven-forbid-hong-kong-v-china-showed.
[45] Pritzker, George. Athletic Aurality: Sport, Sound, Politics. California Institute of the Arts, School of Critical Studies, 2017.
[46] Mouffe, Chantal. Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. Verso, 2013.
[47] Ibid., 2.
[48] Ibid., 90. Drawing on the work of Antonio Gramsci, Mouffe writes: “[Gramsci] repeatedly emphasized the centrality of cultural and artistic practices in the formation and diffusion of common sense, underlining the decisive role played by those practices in the reproduction or disarticulation of a given hegemony. If it is the result of a discursive articulation, common sense can be transformed through counter-hegemonic interventions, and this is where cultural and artistic practices can play a decisive role” (89-90).
[49] Reid, Eric. “Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee.” The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/colin-kaepernick-football-protests.html.
[50] Hodges, Jim. “Abdul-Rauf Will Stand–and Pray.” Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 1996, http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-15/sports/sp-47420_1_mahmoud-abdul-rauf.
[51] Ibid.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Washington, Jesse. “Still No Anthem, Still No Regrets for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.” The Undefeated, 3 Sept. 2016, https://theundefeated.com/features/abdul-rauf-doesnt-regret-sitting-out-national-anthem/.
[54] Hodges, Jim. “Abdul-Rauf Will Stand–and Pray.” Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 1996, http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-15/sports/sp-47420_1_mahmoud-abdul-rauf.
[55] Carlos, John, and Dave Zirin. The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World. Haymarket Books, 2013, pp. 110.
[56] Ibid.
[57] Ibid.
[58] Ibid.121
[59] Shank, Barry. The Political Force of Musical Beauty. Duke University Press, 2014., pp. 65.
[60] Ibid., 67.
[61] Ibid., 39.
[62] ibid., 40.
[63] Ip, Stephanie. “The Music That Fuelled Occupy Hong Kong.” Interlude.hk, 20 Feb. 2015, http://www.interlude.hk/front/music-fuelled-occupy-hong-kong/.
[64] O’Connor, Roisin. “Kendrick Lamar on Why His Song ‘Alright’ Is ‘Probably the Biggest in the World’.” The Independent, 22 Nov. 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/kendrick-lamar-interview-alright-song-record-damn-album-tour-dates-a8068866.html.
[65] Garrett, Daniel Paul. Counter-Hegemonic Resistance in China’s Hong Kong: Visualizing Protest in the City. Springer, 2016, pp. 1.
[66] Ibid., 2.
[67] Denyer, Simon. “Hong Kong Sports Fans Have Booed China’s National Anthem for Years. Now They Might Go to Jail.” The Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/17/people-protest-the-national-anthem-at-sporting-events-in-china-too-now-they-face-jail.
[68] Zirin, Dave. “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced.” The Nation, 7 Sept. 2018, https://www.thenation.com/article/colin-kaepernick-will-not-be-silenced/
Works Cited
“36 U.S. Code § 301 – National Anthem.” Legal Information Institute, Cornell, http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/36/301.
Bandurski, David. “The Chinese National Anthem Has Had a Long Relationship with America.” Quartz, 30 Aug. 2017, https://qz.com/1017782/the-chinese-national-anthems-long-relationship-with-america/.
Bieler, Des. “Colin Kaepernick Comments on Bills Fans, Says Anthem Protests Are ‘Very Patriotic’.” The Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2016, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/10/17/colin-kaepernick-comments-on-bills-fans-says-anthem-protests-are-very-patriotic/.
Brady, Erik. “Colin Kaepernick Kneels for Anthem Again, Gets Booed by Fans in Buffalo.” USA Today, 16 Oct. 2016, http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/49ers/2016/10/16/colin-kaepernick-booed-buffalo-bills-anthem-protest-kneel/92201030/.
Brinson, Will. “Here’s How Nate Boyer Got Colin Kaepernick to Go from Sitting to Kneeling.” CBSSports.com, 27 Sept. 2016, http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-nate-boyer-got-colin-kaepernick-to-go-from-sitting-to-kneeling/.
Carlos, John, and Dave Zirin. The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World . Haymarket Books, 2013.
Cheng, Kris. “Video: Hong Kong Democracy Activists ‘Freeze’ for Chinese National Anthem in Mong Kok Stunt.” Hong Kong Free Press, 16 Apr. 2018, http://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/17/video-hong-kong-democracy-activists-freeze-chinese-national-anthem-mong-kok-stunt/.
Cheng, Kris. “Video: Hong Kong Democracy Activists March with ‘Xi the Pooh’ in National Anthem Protest.” Hong Kong Free Press, 10 Sept. 2018, http://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/09/10/video-hong-kong-democracy-activists-march-xi-pooh-national-anthem-protest/.
Denyer, Simon. “Hong Kong Sports Fans Have Booed China’s National Anthem for Years. Now They Might Go to Jail.” The Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2017, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/17/people-protest-the-national-anthem-at-sporting-events-in-china-too-now-they-face-jail/.
Garrett, Daniel Paul. Counter-Hegemonic Resistance in China’s Hong Kong: Visualizing Protest in the City. Springer, 2016.
Hodges, Jim. “Abdul-Rauf Will Stand–and Pray.” Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-03-15/sports/sp-47420_1_mahmoud-abdul-rauf.
“Hong Kong Student Leader Draws Fury in China over Anthem.” The Straits Times, 14 May 2018, http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-student-leader-draws-fury-in-china-over-anthem.
Huang, Zheping. “On the Second Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, a Look Back at Its Most Iconic Moments.” Quartz, 28 Sept. 2016, https://qz.com/794119/photos-on-the-second-anniversary-of-hong-kongs-umbrella-movement-a-look-back-at-its-most-iconic-moments/.
Ip, Stephanie. “The Music That Fuelled Occupy Hong Kong.” Interlude.hk, 20 Feb. 2015, http://www.interlude.hk/front/music-fuelled-occupy-hong-kong/.
Kaiman, Jonathan. “Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution – the Guardian Briefing.” The Guardian, 30 Sept. 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/-sp-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-pro-democracy-protests.
Kin-Wa, Chan. “Hong Kong Football Fans Ignore Pleas Not to Boo China National Anthem Ahead of Win over Maldives.” South China Morning Post, 17 June 2015, http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1823044/boos-ring-out-national-anthem-another-world-cup-soccer-qualifier.
Lao, Stuart, et al. “China Imposes Anthem Law on Hong Kong, Raising Spectre of Jail Terms.” South China Morning Post, 4 Nov. 2017, http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2118430/china-imposes-national-anthem-law-hong-kong-raising-spectre.
Liu, Juliana. “Hong Kong-China: A Growing Football Rivalry or Just Politics?” BBC News, 17 Nov. 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-34840747.
Lord, Debbie. “Is Colin Kaepernick Breaking the Law by Not Standing for the National Anthem?” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 27 Sept. 2017, http://www.ajc.com/news/national/colin-kaepernick-breaking-the-law-not-standing-for-the-national-anthem/cRjlkGqATbYZT3S3AkzJGK/.
Mouffe, Chantal. Agonistics: Thinking the World Politically. Verso, 2013.
O’Connor, Roisin. “Kendrick Lamar on Why His Song ‘Alright’ Is ‘Probably the Biggest in the World’.” The Independent, 22 Nov. 2017, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/kendrick-lamar-interview-alright-song-record-damn-album-tour-dates-a8068866.html.
“One Country, Two Cisterns as Hong Kong, China Fans Get Separate Toilets.” Daily Mail Online, 16 Nov. 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3320152/One-country-two-cisterns-Hong-Kong-China-fans-separate-toilets.html.
Porteous, James. “Hong Kong Football Association Fined Again by Fifa for Booing China National Anthem.” South China Morning Post, 15 Jan. 2016, http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1901082/hong-kong-football-association-fined-again-fifa-booing-china.
Porteous, James. “Keep Politics out of Sport? Heaven Forbid, as Hong Kong v China Showed.” South China Morning Post, 22 Nov. 2015, http://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/1880497/keep-politics-out-sport-heaven-forbid-hong-kong-v-china-showed.
Porteous, James. “Recap: How Hong Kong Delighted Home Fans with 0-0 Draw against China in Frantic World Cup Qualifier.” South China Morning Post, 26 Nov. 2015, http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1879851/hong-kong-v-china-follow-all-action-live.
Pritzker, George. Athletic Aurality: Sport, Sound, Politics. California Institute of the Arts, School of Critical Studies, 2017.
Reid, Eric. “Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee.” The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2017, http://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/colin-kaepernick-football-protests.html.
Sanchez, Mark W. “Bills Fans Play ‘Tackle the Muslim’ upon Kaepernick’s Arrival.” New York Post, 18 Oct. 2016, https://nypost.com/2016/10/16/bills-fans-colin-kaepernick-welcome-is-breathtakingly-horrid/.
Schwarz, Jon. “Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery.” The Intercept, 28 Aug. 2016, https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-is-righter-than-you-know-the-national-anthem-is-a-celebration-of-slavery/.
Shank, Barry. The Political Force of Musical Beauty. Duke University Press, 2014.
Shepherd, Christian. “China Makes Disrespect of National Anthem a Crime.” Reuters, 1 Sept. 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-law-anthem/china-makes-disrespect-of-national-anthem-a-crime-idUSKCN1BC4HK.
Wagner-McGough, Sean. “LOOK: Bills, 49ers Fans React to Colin Kaepernick’s Start with Vulgar Signs, Shirts.” CBSSports.com, CBS Sports, 16 Oct. 2016, http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/look-bills-49ers-fans-react-to-colin-kaepernicks-start-with-vulgar-signs-shirts/.
Washington, Jesse. “Still No Anthem, Still No Regrets for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.” The Undefeated, 3 Sept. 2016, https://theundefeated.com/features/abdul-rauf-doesnt-regret-sitting-out-national-anthem/.
Wilson, Christopher. “Where’s the Debate on Francis Scott Key’s Slave-Holding Legacy?” Smithsonian.com, 1 July 2016, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wheres-debate-francis-scott-keys-slave-holding-legacy-180959550/.
Wong, Vicky. “FIFA Warn Hong Kong Football Fans Not to Boo during Chinese National Anthem.” Hong Kong Free Press, 13 July 2015, http://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/07/13/fifa-warn-hong-kong-football-fans-not-to-boo-at-chinese-national-anthem/.
Wyche, Steve. “Colin Kaepernick Explains Why He Sat during National Anthem.” NFL.com History, National Football League, 27 Aug. 2016, http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem.
Xu, Vicky Xiuzhong, and Xiaoning Mo. “Hong Kong Student Slammed by Chinese Press for Saying the National Anthem Makes Her ‘Vomit’.” ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 9 May 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-09/china-imposes-national-anthem-law-on-hong-kong/9739240.
Zeng, Vivienne. “1,200 Police to Stand Guard at Hong Kong vs China World Cup Qualifier – Report.” Hong Kong Free Press, 12 Nov. 2015, http://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/11/12/1200-police-to-stand-guard-at-hong-kong-vs-china-world-cup-qualifier-report/.
Zirin, Dave. “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced.” The Nation, 7 Sept. 2018, http://www.thenation.com/article/colin-kaepernick-will-not-be-silenced/.
More from this issue