About 80 percent of the readers who responded to a questionnaire would like to see the country's national anthem changed to "America the Beautiful," Parade magazine says.
Of the nearly 400,000 Americans who responded, 315,000 want to change the anthem, while only 74,000 voted to keep "The Star-Spangled Banner."Parade asked readers their opinion in a questionnaire printed in the magazine in August 1988.
The results of the responses mailed in by readers are printed in Sunday's issue, along with an article by Rep. Andrew Jacobs, D-Ind., who has reintroduced a bill in Congress to change the anthem.
"America the Beautiful," Jacobs writes, "celebrates our power and our ability to live and work in peace, the beauty that is in our land and the possibilities inherent in our people."