Turning Point USA, the late Charlie Kirk’s conservative advocacy non-profit organization, has announced an alternative “All American Halftime Show” in response to the NFL announcing Bad Bunny as the Superbowl LX performer. The show was created to celebrate “faith, family and freedom” and will feature “anything in English.” However, the only thing it truly features is racism and discrimination against the Hispanic community, and it will only drive the left and the right further apart.
Bad Bunny is one of the most successful Puerto Rican artists and was a popular choice for the Superbowl. However, many are claiming they “don’t know who Bad Bunny is,” in the words of Speaker Mike Johnson. With a lot of “impressionable children” watching, Johnson had hoped someone like Lee Greenwood would perform instead of “somebody like this.”
A true American patriot isn’t the next white country artist that sings about the beauty of the rich South or the privilege of white people. The idea of patriotism and freedom is the piecing together of all backgrounds, ethnicities and skin colors that create the great melting pot that is the United States.
Bad Bunny, whom many forget is an American citizen, has faced backlash that isn’t normal. In this seemingly political move from the NFL, the response from the masses has nothing to do with politics. It’s pure racism.
The planning of an alternative show in protest of this event is highly discriminatory and promotes white supremacy, all because Bad Bunny is Hispanic and sings in Spanish. This idea of an “All American” show excludes Americans of Hispanic descent entirely and alienates them with this idea that they are not Americans because of where they are from and what they look like.
The American culture that Turning Point promotes is built on racism, misogyny and white supremacy, not the true identity that is the culmination of different people. What American culture is worthy of celebration if it is hateful and ignorant towards people who aren’t white or English-speaking?
Unfortunately, this kind of racism has never gone away, and there are always ignorant people loudly hating. The best way to combat this is to support Latino artists from all over and welcome their culture and music into our nation.
Most importantly, many need to be open-minded. Be open-minded to accepting those who differ from you, learn about why differences are crucial, and stop turning against an entire ethnicity, a large chunk of the population, that looks or sounds unlike you.
Hispanic citizens are citizens. The tunnel vision terminates all ideas of inclusion or love. An open-mind, a want to learn and a support for the community are some of the best ways to move forward.
Turning Point USA is setting the country back with this show and creating a larger divide between not just Republicans and Democrats, but white and Hispanic citizens. The ideas of “faith, family and freedom” are arguably more reflected in the Hispanic community than the white, Christian population because of how much weight the hate and standards have on these powerful words.
