Should the national anthem be played before sporting events?
YES It connects ideals of sports, nation
My father immigrated to Canada from Pakistan in 1985. As the daughter of an immigrant, I grew up with a deep appreciation for our country. Canada has been a land of opportunity for my family, and though it’s far from perfect, we have been able to live the proverbial Canadian dream.
My mother dedicated her career to health-care, my brother served in the Canadian Armed Forces and I represented Canada at the 2016 Olympics in wrestling — a sporting opportunity not available to millions of women around the world.
I provide this background because I believe we can acknowledge our patriotism without using it to shield us from difficult conversations. If we’re going to move forward as a society, we need to critically examine existing traditions and ask ourselves if they still make sense. While I land squarely in the “yes” column when it comes to playing the anthem at sporting events, my reasons are varied and nuanced.
There is a strong link between sport and country that exists whether you’re wearing a national team jersey or one from an NHL team. Although the anthem’s utility is more obvious in international sport where athletes represent a country, the value of playing the national anthem at domestic sporting events is linked to the special role that sport plays in Canadian society.
It’s difficult to compare sport to other events that bring us together. We see this in the way that athletes are revered as role models. Unlike rock stars or actors, athletes are societal ambassadors for our values.
The national anthem connects the ideals of sport with the broader ideals of Canada. It’s the inflection point that links good sportsmanship with good citizenry. This is why the national anthem feels normal in a domestic sport setting, but out of place at the opera or movie theatre.
It may seem like an outdated tradition from the wartime era, but the anthem is still an important moment that can bond us together. Although we go to sporting events to cheer for a specific individual or team, the anthem reminds us that we are part of something bigger in a way that no other ritual can.
The emphasis on the collective good is evident in the lyrics of the anthem itself. “We stand on guard for thee” is a prudent reminder that being Canadian is more than the trope of an apologetic, maple syrup-eating hockey player. While “on guard” tends to conjure images of military action toward some external threat, it also speaks to the internal reckoning that we face when it comes to social justice and equity.
The significance of the anthem’s tradition and the reach of sport have helped amplify voices and causes. In the last few years, protests during the anthem have brought to the forefront uncomfortable but necessary conversations about social justice and the plight of our fellow citizens. Doing away with the anthem does nothing to solve those struggles and removes a platform that has proven to be powerful.
While athletes can still protest at sporting events without the anthem, we lose the connection between sport and society that the anthem underscores. The moment of collective pause that the anthem commands will be gone and with it the weighty significance of those who choose to kneel.
We cannot simply ignore that some athletes and spectators feel the anthem doesn’t represent them. It’s our duty as fellow citizens to address it in meaningful ways, such as, modernizing parts of the anthem itself. Although the anthem’s change to gender neutral language was controversial, it showed this tradition can be adapted to be more inclusive. The special relationship between sport and our country means that athletes have a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of driving that kind of change.
Canadians are open to conversations about how our shared identity needs to evolve, but playing the anthem at sporting events is one of the few opportunities we get to acknowledge our collective citizenry.
When people within that collective use the anthem to express their feelings of oppression, we shouldn’t focus on eliminating the anthem, we should focus on eliminating the oppression.
Jasmine Mian is an Olympian running to be a city councillor in Calgary.
The significance of the anthem’s tradition and the reach of sport have helped amplify voices and causes