Martin Hendrikx 1

Martin Hendrikx

College English 3 – EN231D07

Deryck Satchwell

November 29, 2007

Critique

A Critique of Naomi Burn’s “We need a new national anthem – for all

Belizeans”

Naomi Burn, a woman from Biscayne Village, wrote an article that was published in the

August 24, 2006 edition of the “Amandala.” The article covered a recent issue that many people,

including myself find controversial. The title of her article is “We need a new national anthem –

for all Belizeans.” Ms. Burn is an immigrant and has become a Belizean citizen, and she realizes

that we do need a new or at least a revised national anthem. Many people however will argue

and claim that the anthem has been the way it is since it was written, over 25 years ago.

Ms. Naomi says that the national anthem of a country should be a “national anthem” and

it should not exclude any people who live in the country whether they are immigrants, of

different races, or of different sexes even. Our national anthem must make everyone who sings it

proud. If all Belizeans are not actually “Sons of the Baymen” or if not all of the people of Belize

are descended from the slaves, then why should they be proud to sing the national anthem of

Belize, which claims we are all “Sons of the Baymen” and that we have all been freed from

“slavery’s oppression’s rod.” These two simple statements either could be altered or removed

which would help to eliminate the problem of different races of people being excluded.
 Martin Hendrikx 2

As for the exclusion of women, if one stops to think about it, our national anthem is

actually quite sexist since it does not mention Belizean women at all. As Ms. Burn suggested to

her daughters, the national anthem could be altered to include women very easily. One way in

which this could be done, is by the replacement of a single word in the part where the anthem

says, “Our manhood we pledge to thy liberty.” The word manhood could easily be replaced by

“honour” so that the anthem would read, “our honor we pledge to thy liberty.” This would

include women and men alike since “for most men, their ‘honour,’ anyway, is essentially

equivalent to their ‘manhood,’ but it does not exclude” women at all.

I agree one hundred percent with Ms. Burn’s argument since the anthem is not inclusive

of all Belizeans. Her information is not all factual since it is very opinion based article, but the

point is being delivered in such a way that it is very logical and it is also very persuasive. She

does however include several fallacies in her work, which were probably unintentional, but on a

whole, her work is very convincing.

I believe her point was well made and that many Belizeans as well as non-Belizeans who

read this article will realize that Belize has a true need for a new or a revised national anthem.

The new national anthem would of course need to include Belizeans of all races, genders,

ethnicities, and colors. We must strive for change in this ever-changing world for if we do not,

we shall surely never develop as a country. The simple change in a few of the phrases of our

national anthem would change the outlooks of many Belizeans.

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