Is there a greater inkblot take a look at for America proper now than response to Dangerous Bunny being the halftime act for Tremendous Bowl LX?
Quickly after his identify was introduced, social media exploded into meritocracy debates as if the Nationwide Soccer League’s choices are culturally motivated and never commercially. Taylor Swift is probably the most streamed artist in Spotify historical past. Dangerous Bunny is No. 2. For a home sports activities league attempting to develop its recognition globally, the rationale appears clear.
And but as a result of he’s a Puerto Rican who sings in Spanish, conservative speaking heads should undertaking outrage and provide listeners nonsensical objections.
“It’s so shameful they’ve determined to choose anyone who appears to hate America a lot to symbolize them on the halftime present,” Corey Lewandowski, a longtime confidant of President Trump who at present advises the Division of Homeland Safety, instructed conservative podcast host Benny Johnson. “We must be attempting to be inclusive, not unique. There are many nice bands and leisure individuals who could possibly be taking part in at that present that may be bringing individuals collectively and never separating them.”
Suggesting Dangerous Bunny hates America is an attention-grabbing take given Puerto Ricans have been U.S. residents since 1917. The three-time Grammy winner additionally has 4 No. 1 albums on the very American Billboard pop charts and has already carried out throughout halftime on the Tremendous Bowl again in 2020 with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. The Federal Communications Fee acquired greater than 1,300 complaints concerning the present that 12 months with the overwhelming majority being from mother and father complaining concerning the stripper pole and twerking of the ladies, not Dangerous Bunny’s alleged hate of America.
I don’t know if Lewandowski and Johnson knew any of that earlier than they began speaking, however I get the sensation it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. As soon as Lewandowski steered ICE was going to be on the Tremendous Bowl — an occasion that had a median resale ticket worth of $8,600 in 2024 — it was clear their dialog wasn’t about fixing the immigration drawback.
It was clear they didn’t know a lot concerning the historical past of halftime acts both.
In 2006, a Tremendous Bowl held within the coronary heart of Detroit — the birthplace of Motown — rolled out the Rolling Stones, who’re from London. In 2010, a Tremendous Bowl in Miami — house of salsa and Afro-Cuban jazz — gave us the Who … who’re additionally from England. In 2002, months after the 9/11 terrorist assaults, U2 — a band from Dublin, Eire — did the present. There’s a decades-long precedent for non-Individuals to headline the Tremendous Bowl. Although, once more, fast geography lesson: Puerto Rico is a part of the US and Puerto Ricans are U.S. residents.
Detractors like Lewandowski and Johnson wish to make English being Dangerous Bunny’s second language an indictment of his patriotism, as if rising up talking English is a criterion for citizenship. It isn’t and by no means has been. Maybe as a substitute of utilizing their platform to stir worry at a time when calm is required, the 2 might see subsequent February’s present as a possibility to develop. As a result of truthfully, it’s so counterproductive to permit influential voices to gaslight the nation into forgetting the milestones it’s already crossed. “La Bamba” by Los Lobos was sung in Spanish and hit No. 1 almost 40 years in the past. The one English within the Ok-pop hit “Gangnam Model” is “hey, horny girl,” and that track made PSY a world sensation.
As an alternative of creating individuals worry Spanish on the Tremendous Bowl, perhaps encourage them to spend this NFL season studying one thing past “gracias.“ As a result of on this world, there are individuals who select to talk in English and there are individuals who haven’t any different alternative. Solely a kind of situations appears like freedom to me.
That was the subject of dialogue in the summertime of 2008 after then-Sen. Barack Obama stated this at a marketing campaign cease in Georgia: “Perceive this, as a substitute of worrying about whether or not immigrants can study English — they’ll study English — you might want to ensure your little one can converse Spanish. You need to be fascinated about how can your little one grow to be bilingual.”
On the time many conservatives — comparable to Tucker Carlson and Lou Dobbs — used these feedback not as a immediate to debate the deserves of Obama’s remarks relating to U.S. schooling however as a weapon to assault him. They accused him of being divisive — when years in the past Nelson Mandela stated once you discuss to somebody “in his personal language, that goes to his coronary heart.” In actual fact, Dobbs stated “as a substitute of range, he’s speaking about factionalism.” Nonsense that sounds quite a bit just like the echoes we hear from Lewandowski and Johnson at present.
It’s not only a query of if our kids must be bilingual; it’s additionally about being curious concerning the world we stay in. This NFL season has already featured video games in Eire and Brazil. Mexico Metropolis is an annual occasion. The league is in it for the bag. And ultimately there shall be a crew based mostly abroad the place Spanish is heard, visiting groups carry passports and Dangerous Bunny isn’t any stranger.
YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow
