Hey, the Super Bowl 2025 is here. The Chiefs are aiming for a three-peat, and the Eagles don’t want to repeat what happened in the 2023 Super Bowl. The stage is set, and the excitement has already skyrocketed. But as the game is about to start, one controversy has started to take place.

The NFL started a new tradition at the Super Bowl when it introduced a black national anthem in Super Bowl 2020. So, as a tradition, Ledisi performed the black national anthem, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ at Super Bowl LIX. Ledisi is a New Orleans native who got her first big opportunity to sing at the greatest stage in the sports world. It looks great, right? But apparently it’s not.

Remember when Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem? And later said, “Some who are opposed to ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ think of it as another protest or as a protest song and couple it with Kaepernick’s protest. They are sick of protests associated with American sports and American entertainment generally.” After his strong offense, the NAACP leader, James Weldon Johnson’s poem, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ was adjusted to take a big space in the pregame events. 

So, Ledisi was seen performing the black national anthem in front of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. In fact, this is the first time the President of the nation is attending the Super Bowl. Though the league has preserved the tradition of a black national anthem, some football fans do not agree with having one other than the original national anthem. So, the skirmish between supporters and haters of the black national anthem has erupted again. Wanna know how fans reacted? Let’s dive in!

Fans trolling the black national anthem at Super Bowl LIX

As the opening ceremony started, and the black anthem was performed, fans reacted heavily to it. One fan reacted, “Oh good. Another year of hearing the “black national anthem. This has no place in the Super Bowl. Quit forcing this on people. Once. A. Year.” While another said, “Is the black national anthem still a thing? Wth is this?” And one X-user reacted, “Black National Anthem….. mute. 🙄” But hold on, fans didn’t stop there from reacting to the black national anthem at the Chiefs–Eagles SB game. 

A nationalist netizen came up on the floor to say, “Just muted the Black national anthem. There is only one national anthem, and it is for ALL Americans.” The other fan pointed out a new angle while reacting, “They did the black national anthem 45 minutes early so as to not offend those who think that they are losing their country.” But another football fan took it too far, saying, “F–- THE BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM!!!” The level of opposition is also not weak! 

Since its inception, the black national anthem has been controversial. At the Super Bowl 2025, fans saw glimpses of it. Maybe the issue is more complicated, but let’s see what happens in the future with the black national anthem tradition at the SB!