Apparently, MP Mauril Belanger wasted a lot of effort and time getting his bill passed that changed the line in the national anthem “all thy sons command” to “all of us command.”
According to at least one member of The Tenors, the BC-based singing quartet, all you have to do is bide your time and, when given the great honour of performing the anthem at a major sporting event, insert your own words.
During the pre-game ceremony for the 87th Major League Baseball All Star Game, tenor Remigio Pereira sang, “We are all brothers and sisters/all lives matter to the great” instead of “With glowing hearts we see thee rise/the true north strong and free.” At the same time, he pulled a hastily scribbled sign from inside his jacket stating “all lives matter” on one side and “united we stand” on the other.
Never mind that the substituted lyric does not fit and makes little sense, for those of us watching at, it was jolting. However a Canadian might feel about the anthem—there are still issues with it—it is an official national symbol the lyrics for which have been democratically agreed upon by an Act of Parliament after protracted and heated debate.
Imagine how the rest of the vocalists, who were visibly taken aback, felt. What about poor Michael Saunders, the only Canadian playing in the game, standing there uncomfortably on the first baseline for all the world to see?
We found out later how the other singers Clifton Murray, Fraser Walters and Victor Micallef felt when they quickly released a statement a few innings into the game saying they were “shocked and embarrassed” and offering an apology for what they called a “disrespectful and misguided lack of judgment by one member of the group.”
Pereira did not even recant. Instead, he had the audacity to tweet: “I speak for the human race and the lives of all sentient beings.” The arrogance.
But not only was his selfish behaviour an affront and embarrassment to Canada and Canadians, it was an insult to African Americans.
The statement “all lives matter” is a response to the civil rights slogan “black lives matter.”
It presumes that by saying “black lives matter” one is saying other lives do not matter, which at best is a logical fallacy and simply not true. Of course, all lives matter. The point is, in practice, black lives are still valued less than white lives in the United States and are two-and-a-half times more likely to be ended by police.
It also presumes that all lives are equally at risk, which is ridiculous. For whatever progress has been made in race relations in the United States, they still have a major problem with racism both individualized and systemic. So do we, by the way, before we start feeling all high and mighty.
Not only are black people two-and-a-half times per capita more likely to be killed by police in the U.S., but unarmed black people are statistically five times more likely to be killed by police than unarmed white people.
Most of the explanations for this—for example, the idea that violent crime rates are higher in the black community (true)—have been debunked. One analysis conducted by university researchers in Kentucky and South Carolina even concluded that among people of all races who were fatally shot by police, black people were less likely to have been posing an imminent threat to law enforcement.
Another California study found no correlation at all between violent crime rate and police killings regardless of race.
Coming back to Mr. Pereira and all those who would respond to “black lives matter” with “all lives matter.” Even if well-intentioned, and we have no reason to believe Pereira’s motives were anything but even if his judgment was atrocious, the “all lives matter” response is dismissive of the problem. In order to address a problem, one must first admit there is a problem.
“Black lives matter,” says “there is a problem with blacks being treated inequitably.”
“All lives matter,” says “there is no problem, or, if there is, it affects all races equally.”
Pereira was wrong to change the lyrics of our national anthem to make a personal political statement.
The political statement he was trying to make is a misguided one.
And, he did not even have the grace to apologize. To anyone.
To use the obvious baseball analogy, Remigio Pereira struck out.
