The mayor of Baltimore says she has no plans to remove the city’s monument to Francis Scott Key, after the words “racist anthem” were sprayed this week on a statue of him. Key wrote what would become the national anthem 205 years ago today while he was held captive on a British ship during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.

Loyola University professor Karsonya Wise Whitehead ( @kayewhitehead) joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to explain why some people think the anthem’s rarely sung third verse is racist.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.