I wonder how many people actually read the article. I'll admit that I didn't the first time around, and I probably should have because it's even worse than OP portrayed it. In it, she quotes a really dumb sounding "activist" who says the national anthem should be John Lennon's "Imagine," which is one of the worst, most totalitarian songs ever written. She also declares that the third verse of The Star Spangled Banner, which mentions "the hireling and slave," is "horrific," since she believes it's about violence against slaves. But the verse is clearly a poetic way of taunting subjects of the King of England and mercenaries who were fighting against the Americans in the War of 1812. The most plausible connection to actual slavery would be the former slaves who joined the British army, but those were only a small portion of the British force, and there were quite a few black Americans fighting for the US.
Just a sloppy, sloppy, piece. But I guess this kind of thing is totally fine, while the NYT felt they had to apologize for not "fact checking" a piece by a US Senator.
Just a sloppy, sloppy, piece. But I guess this kind of thing is totally fine, while the NYT felt they had to apologize for not "fact checking" a piece by a US Senator.