With the bridge debacle, the name Francis Scott Key has been a topic of controversy. Francis Scott Key was an American poet, author, and lawyer from Frederick, Maryland. He witnessed the British bomb Fort McHenry in 1814, inspiring him to write numerous works of art, the most popular of which is the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
There are other bridges and statues honoring Francis Scott Key throughout the nation. There was even a ship named the SS Francis Scott Key that fought in World War II. His memory is being erased from history. The Key monument in San Francisco was destroyed by protestors on June 19, 2020, the same date that is now the celebrated holiday of Juneteenth. Instead of rebuilding the monument, California replaced it with 350 black steel sculptures to represent the first 350 Africans sold by African royalty to America to be used as slaves. This is extremely divisive and perpetuates the narrative that a subsect of our population should not have loyalty to America.
The woke left refers to the national anthem produced by Key as the “white national anthem” in an attempt to divide us. We are all American – divided, we fall. It is the people vs the government NOT the people vs the people. There is a good probability that the bridge will be renamed after someone far less influential.
