May 31, 2006 7:32 am US/Eastern
Spanish-Language Natl. Anthem Sung At Ellis Island
Singers gathered at Ellis Island yesterday to present a controversial, Spanish-language version of the national anthem, steps from facilities that served as a gateway to the U.S. for more than 12 million immigrants.
Standing under a white tent with Manhattan behind them, singer Tony Sunshine and others sang "Nuestro Himno," which inspired public backlash in April and led President Bush to declare "the national anthem ought to be sung in English."
"We want to broadcast the anthem with patriotism, love and respect", music producer Eduardo Reyes said at the Tuesday event.
About 100 people, mostly journalists and members of the music industry, attended the presentation of the album "Somos Americanos (We Are Americans)," which features "Nuestro Himno" and other Spanish-language songs about the immigrant experience.
At least one version of the song contains lines in English that condemn U.S. immigration laws, but Reyes said that the Spanish lyrics are the same as on a Congress Web site. The Spanish version of "The Star Spangled Banner" was translated by Francis Haffkine Snow in 1919 in response to a Capitol Hill request, he said.
Bush criticized the song in April at a Rose Garden news conference, saying "I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."
The president of Urban Box Office Inc., which produced the album, dismissed criticism of the project and said that immigrants should not be forced to abandon their national culture.
"It's madness. The same people who listen to violent and sexual lyrics are the ones that criticize us," said Adam Kidron, who is British but has lived in the U.S. for 16 years. "All we want to do is to present the anthem to more people, make it more relevant."
Kidron had said he hoped the song would be become the anthem of recent pro-immigrant protest marches. Yet despite the publicity and controversy surrounding the song, it has gotten little radio play.
Kidron said UBO would donate a dollar from the sale of each album to the National Capital Immigration Coalition and the Latin War Veterans.
The presentation also included the unveiling of the video of "Nuestro Himno." Vocal trio Voz a Voz, the children's group Reaggaeton Ninos, singer Tony Sunshine and rapper P-Star performed the song live.
