Photo courtesy of Creative Commons via Glenn Francis
After winning the first-ever Album of the Year for an all Spanish Album, Bad Bunny (A Puerto Rican Rap artist) performed for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. During his performance, a screen in the stadium displayed a message saying: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” This statement was his way of communicating to the audience his strong distaste for the current aggressive targeting of Latino immigrants.
Bad Bunny performed songs from his album, “DeBÍ TiRAR Más FOToS,” which contained many references to Puerto Rico. His performance not only paid homage to his roots but also opposed the racist comments and gestures made by various conservatives suggesting that he was not a “Real American.” Simultaneously, Turning Point USA, an organization founded by Charlie Kirk and meant to rally young white Christian conservatives, held a separate “All American Halftime Show,” suggesting that the main Super Bowl performance was not American. However, Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico, an incorporated United States Territory, making him an American artist.
Similar racist notions were seen on the X page of Congressman Randy Fine. In a letter to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission posted on X, Fine wrote, “Real Americans are outraged by the vulgar, indecent, and offensive content broadcast during the ‘Bad Bunny’ Performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.”
Like Turning Point USA, Fine also implied that Bad Bunny was not a real American. This attack from the congressman shows the institutionally rooted ignorance in our country.
Bad Bunny didn’t explicitly speak out against the current administration, nor did he directly criticize ICE or any specific government official. However, subtle actions in his performance acted as a protest. In one clip, Bad Bunny is holding a football and shouts, “God Bless America.” He then proceeds to shout out the names of various countries from Latin America as other people followed him bearing those countries’ flags. He then held the football high and said, “Seguimos Aqui,” Spanish for “We continue here,” or “Here, we continue”. His final quote drives home the idea that despite the current injustice, Latin Americans haven’t been stopped. But instead, they’ve thrived.
