A vocal group performing the Canadian national anthem at the MLB All-Star Game Tuesday altered the lyrics to include support for the “All Lives Matter” movement. The performance by The Tenors, which included one of the singers holding a sign with that message, caused a furor among observers who weighed in online.
Where the original lyrics to the Canadian anthem say, “With glowing hearts we see thee rise/The True North strong and free,” The Tenors sang, “We’re all brothers and sisters/All lives matter to the great.”
The group, composed of four Canadians, appeared to be using their appearance at the game, played at Petco Park in San Diego and televised nationally in the U.S. and Canada, to make a political statement. Last week’s high-profile incidents that resulted in deaths, including two black men being killed by police and the subsequent shooting of five officers during a protest in Dallas, has brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the forefront of the national discussion.
While some find All Lives Matter expresses a superior sentiment because of its ostensibly more inclusive message, others disdain it as an attempt to minimize the original sense of outrage behind Black Lives Matter and even imply that the latter phrase represents, rather than decries, racism. Some who watched Tuesday’s rendition of “O Canada” were simply offended that The Tenors had the gall to change a national anthem’s lyrics.