“No refuge could save the hireling and slave.
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave”
Do you know those song lyrics? Here’s a hint, the rest of the song verse.
“And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Those words of course are lyrics from The Star Spangle Banner. The American flag song. The national anthem. What they describe is the vow/threat that any slave who dares escape or take refuge with the British in the War of 1812, will face terrifying punishment, perhaps execution by the authority of American justice. America won the war and no doubt captured fugitive slaves did suffer severe retribution.
Francis Scott Key who wrote this awful song was a slaveholder himself. He was a DA and pit bull lawyer for slave owners. His brother-in-law was US Chief Justice Roger Taney who precipitated the Civil War by declaring Dred Scott a non-citizen thereby nationalizing slavery. So if black pop stars would sing the 3rd verse at the Super Bowl kneeling might take on a whole new meaning.
