Bad Bunny speaks English, as a considerable (but definitely not total) percentage of Puerto Ricans do. He does not perform in English, but, of course, he might create some English content for the Superbowl.
There is a big bunch of idiots who think Puerto Ricans who are in the U.S. are immigrants. Nearly 35 years ago when I moved to LA from Puerto Rico, I took my youngest daughter to register for school in "North Hollywood" (which is really Los Angeles). When I presented her transcripts, the admissions officer of that school district said, "She is from Puerto Rico so we can't register her without residency or immigration papers". Despite saying that Puerto Ricans are all U.S citizens, she refused to register my daughter.
I mention this because the misunderstanding of the status of the Island is widely misunderstood. I had the same thing happen when I went to get a California Driver license and presented my Puerto Rican one; "we don't have reciprocity agreements with foreign countries.
There are many people, including a high percentage of legal Hispanic immigrants, who believe in learning English and support schools making sure that their children are proficient.
And? That obviously does not mean not also speaking a second language (or third or what have you), and certainly does not apply only to the Hispanic population. The US being overrepresented with xenophobes and troglodytes does not mean people cannot enjoy something not in English, nor that just because something is in English that all US audiences will suddenly embrace it.
But Spanish is not the language of the United States (yeah, there is no official one) and a legitimate and non-discriminatory argument about not having the half-time show in a very American sport is valid.
Not really.
Bad Bunny speaks English, as a considerable (but definitely not total) percentage of Puerto Ricans do. He does not perform in English, but, of course, he might create some English content for the Superbowl.
If that's his artistic choice, great. If it's not, great.
There is a big bunch of idiots who think Puerto Ricans who are in the U.S. are immigrants. Nearly 35 years ago when I moved to LA from Puerto Rico, I took my youngest daughter to register for school in "North Hollywood" (which is really Los Angeles). When I presented her transcripts, the admissions officer of that school district said, "She is from Puerto Rico so we can't register her without residency or immigration papers". Despite saying that Puerto Ricans are all U.S citizens, she refused to register my daughter.
I mention this because the misunderstanding of the status of the Island is widely misunderstood. I had the same thing happen when I went to get a California Driver license and presented my Puerto Rican one; "we don't have reciprocity agreements with foreign countries.
It's often willfully "misunderstood," i.e. simply more the same old intolerance. And of course, in some cases it's actually just not understanding some of the most basic facts about the country. In
both scenarios, it's a damning indictment of this country.
There are many people, including a high percentage of legal Hispanic immigrants, who believe in learning English and support schools making sure that their children are proficient.
And? Being proficient in English obviously does not preclude speaking any other language(s). This is not an either/or scenario.
But Spanish is not the language of the United States (yeah, there is no official one) and a legitimate and non-discriminatory argument about not having the half-time show in a very American sport is valid.
First, let's not pretend that many of the
exact same people would not be braying just as loudly and with just as much vitriol, albeit with a slightly different pseudo "justification," if the performer was a popular Black rapper. Oh that's right...we don't have to pretend. We saw the
exact same racism about Kendrick Lamar all of...checks notes...one year ago. The Venn diagram of the people who (bleep)ed about that and the ones (bleep)ing about Bad Bunny is a circle 🟤. They just swapped in one dog whistle for another.
If the citations are correct, it was Longfellow who called music the universal language of mankind. Apparently, he did not foresee a populace that over indexes in xenophobes, troglodytes and outright racists when using the word universal.
I don't speak Italian, but can appreciate the powerful, soaring music of opera and the vocalists who bring it to life. I don't speak Latin, and have deep disagreements with the Catholic church, but can appreciate the contemplative, spiritual sounds of music used in masses. I don't speak Hawaiian, but find the sounds of traditional Hawaiian music to be beautiful in their structure and simplicity.
I've always been a huge fan of Gloria Estefan, and love many of her songs in Spanish (and Portuguese) I think they are as enjoyable as her English-language work. Some, of course, are versions of the same songs.
Desde la Oscuridad sounds, to me, even better than the
Coming out of the Dark English version. Dual-releases aside, I purchased CDs (when that was a thing) of her music purely in Spanish, obviously not because I understood the actual words, but because the
music was enjoyable and resonated with me regardless of comprehending the words.
The Super Bowl could invite Shakira back to the Super Bowl and have her perform only her Spanish-language songs, and I'd be all for it. Granted, some of that
may be that she's freaking Shakira, but that aside, the
music is about much more than just the lyrics. The tone, the harmony, the melody and the dance (in a visual performance anyway) are their own language.
For 15 damn minutes, the whiners might actually enjoy the actual music if they set their barely-veiled bigotry aside. But we know that's not going to happen.
