WaPo quickly criticizes Francis Scott Key following destruction of Baltimore bridge bearing his name
The Washington Post reacted swiftly to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, highlighting Key’s controversial past. The article explored Key’s history, including his racist views and slave ownership. The piece delved into the controversial verse in “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Key’s opposition to abolition. The incident reignited discussions on Key’s legacy and the anthem’s history. The Washington Post quickly responded to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, shedding light on Key’s contentious background. The article delved into Key’s racist beliefs, slave ownership, the controversial verse in “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and his anti-abolition stance. This event sparked renewed conversations about Key’s legacy and the history of the national anthem.
The Washington Post wasted no time after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in reminding readers that the man it was named after was a problematic figure.
Early Tuesday morning, a massive container ship crashed into the bridge, knocking it down, and leaving at least six construction workers presumed dead.
In a Wednesday article titled “Who was Francis Scott Key, controversial poet the bridge is named after?” the paper reminded readers about Key’s “racist views.”
Francis Scott Key is best known for writing the poem that became America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He wrote the lyrics the morning after an 1814 British attack on Fort McHenry, which is right by the collapsed bridge.
“As The Washington Post previously reported, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ did not become the national anthem until more than a century after it was written because of controversy, partly over Key’s racist views,” the Post wrote.
“One section of the poem’s third verse, in particular, has come under scrutiny from those who say it was intended to mock or threaten African Americans who escaped slavery to join the British forces, after being promised land in exchange for their service,” the paper continued.
The verse in question reads, “No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And The Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
The Post also reminded readers that Key was a slave owner who opposed abolition and made racist remarks about black people.
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However, the paper also acknowledged that critics have pointed out that as a lawyer, Key defended several slaves, and he freed several of his own slaves.
Because of his mixed record on racial issues, monuments to Key have been defaced, and critics have called for institutions named after him to be renamed.
In 2017, vandals defaced the Francis Scott Key Monument in Baltimore with red paint and spray-painted “Racist Anthem” and “blood on his hands.”
Investigators are still searching for the remains of the six people who fell in the water at the time of the Key bridge’s collapse.
The search, as well as the cleanup process, is expected to finish before any rebuilding of the bridge begins.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) toured the area of the destroyed bridge in the rain with the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday afternoon.
President Biden also addressed the disaster on Tuesday, saying he wants the federal government to pay for the bridge’s rebuilding.
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