Lift Every Voice and Sing
Calling the song "the Black national anthem" has been criticized. Timothy Askew, an associate professor at the historically Black Clark Atlanta University, argued that the use of the term "Black national anthem" could incorrectly say that Black communities wanted to separate from other Americans. In his view, the words of the hymn do not overtly refer to any specific race, and "identity should be developed by the individual himself, not by a group of people who think they know what is best for you." Because of this, the song has also been sung by people who are not African American. Some Conservative commentators have similarly criticized performances and references to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as the "Black national anthem" as separatist and diminishing to "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States.