In the Costa Rican National Anthem, a few verses exalt the virtue of hard work as the basis for individual pride and patriotism; to wit:

En la lucha tenaz, de fecunda labor

que enrojece del hombre la faz,

which can be translated to:

In the tenacious struggle of fruitful plodding,

which crimsons the countenance of men,

The above can be construed as referring to vigorous agricultural work performed in the fields and under the sun, which would cause a worker’s skin to redden and become flush. To the millions of Costa Ricans who have proudly sung the National Anthem since the mid 19^th century, nothing would seem untoward with these verses. An expat, however, has an issue with that “enrojece” (crimsons or reddens) verb, and he wishes to see a law enacted to change it.

Evgeny Kabanov is a Russian man who is currently going through the process of becoming a naturalized citizen of Costa Rica. To this effect, it could be said that Mr. Kabanov satisfies the requirement of being familiar with the civic process of the Republic of Costa Rica, specifically our ruefully underused Popular Initiative Office of the Legislative Assembly, which allows anyone (including foreigners and minors) to submit a legislative proposal and “shop it around” to the sitting lawmakers.

From Red Faces to Hardened Faces

According to political reporter Marielos Gutierrez Vargas of online news daily CRHoy.com, Mr. Kabanov believes that “enrojece” should be changed to “endurece” (hardens). His rationale is that the verb “crimsons” excludes Afro Costa Ricans who are not physiologically capable of turning red due to their melanin, their insoluble pigments that account for the color of their skin.

Mr. Kabanov assures that he does not believe the verbal choice of our National Anthem was discriminatory at the time it was written, nor does he criticize our Anthem itself (that could count against him during the naturalization process unless he can correctly invoke the free expression protective clause of our Constitution). Mr. Kabanov believes that enrojece was written as an omission, an unintentional faux pas, so to speak, of not considering all ethnic groups at the time.

At a time when Costa Rica is looking to amend her Constitution so that it reflects the belief in our society as being multicultural and ethnically diverse (a sort of e pluribus unum, if you will), this legislative proposal by a Russian expat should seem very apropos. Alas, no legislator seems to want to come near it.