@Janko @VeryBadLlama

History Time!

Before he wrote the US National anthem, Francis Scott Key tried to play soldier boy in the war of 1812. He fought in the Battle of Bladenburg near DC where ~7K US forces fought ~4K British. The heavily outnumbered Brits had a group of paid soldiers called the Colonial Marines that included some Black dudes✊🏿

Brits said, "Yo slaves! Let us train you as soldiers! You will get paid to kill slavers!"

You already know what happened next.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cze5A4iyQGk

@Janko @VeryBadLlama

The Brits won the battle so decisively that they pushed on from Bladensburg and burned Washington DC., including the building that we call the White House today.

The White House was already white, but people didn't call it that. After their victory at Bladensburg, the British burned DC. Soot everywhere!

After the US rebuilt the city, the building was shining white. People started calling it the White House.

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/burned-white-house-painting

The US side had a few Black soldiers too! They received a similar promise of freedom. But the Black US soldiers were disappointed in the skill and resolve of some of their white peers. Charles Ball said (in 1814 language), "Bro! Why are y'all running away? We're fighting for our freedom and our country! I thought you were a militia? Pshh! Soft!"

@Janko @VeryBadLlama
Francis Scott Key was so embarrassed by getting spanked at Bladenburg by former slaves turned professional soldiers, that he added these lines to the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner:

"No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave."

In most US wars, Black prisoners of war didn't get the same humane treatment as white POWs. They were tortured and executed. Some colonial Marines met this fate.

@Janko @VeryBadLlama

So in typical US fashion, we just... don't sing that part of the anthem! And we consider it very rude to even bring this up!🤡

And we don't teach it in schools. Most US citizens don't even know that there is a 3rd verse to the national anthem.🤡🤡

And Black folk that try to say, "I love the US but I don't sing the anthem because..." are not considered to be like Charles Ball. They're considered un-American. Sometimes by British citizens!🤡🤡🤡

@Janko @VeryBadLlama @mekkaokereke

Edit: I learned from the replies that Asimov was known for sexually assaulting women at conferences.

There's an Asimov short story where someone exposed a Russian spy because no American would know the third verse. I guess there's an unseen and implied "white" in it.

The story is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Refuge_Could_Save

@Janko @VeryBadLlama @mekkaokereke @platanoutre

First I hear of him being a sex pest so notorious seems like a bit of a stretch here.