It's No Accident has a link to Nuestro Himno that is both beautiful and brings back memories.
So many years ago that I forget who the child was, a friend's youngster was at Three Rivers Stadium (that long ago!) as part of a group singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in American Sign Language.
This was not "Signed English" the children sang in — it was American Sign Language, a far different language with a grammar reminiscent of French. Back then, I was far more fluent in ASL, and I could follow most of the translated lyrics. Thinking about watching those children sing our National Anthem in a language that, to most Americans is foreign, still chokes me up.
President Bush thinks "The Star-Spangled Banner" should be sung only in English. Someone pointed out that the French would have a meltdown if someone sang "La Marseillaise" in English. This is entirely correct. The French would be highly offended.1 I believe this is a perfect example of why our National Anthem should be sung in English, American Sign Language, Spanish, French, German, Polish, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Tagalog and Fortran!
Let freedom ring!
- In honor of the French, here's the lyrics to "La Marseillaise." Truthfully, I liked their song better when I didn't understand it. Now I'm sort of repulsed. [back]