The Super Bowl, Bad Bunny, and What It Means to Be American
Critics called Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance "un-American" because it was in Spanish. They forgot that Spanish has been spoken in what is now the United States since 1513—decades before Jamestown or Plymouth
I'm not a fan of Bad Bunny, nor do I follow football. I'm not even there for the halftime shows. I woke up one morning to news about the "turmoil" that one Puerto Rican supposedly caused with the Super Bowl halftime show, and I thought, What can be so outrageous that the President is up in arms about it? I later heard that his performance did not embody "the greatness of America," and critics argued that the show failed to reflect the values, language, or culture of the United States.
Do I consider myself a fan of Benito’s music? Honestly, no. His music doesn’t appeal to me. Do I believe he’s talented? That’s widely accepted—most of the world recognizes his skill. However, I’m not here to argue that point. I’m here to challenge those who say the show wasn’t "American."
The United States acquired Puerto Rico, along with Guam and the Philippines, in 1898 when Spain ceded these territories in the Treaty of Paris after the U.S. won the Spanish-American War. In 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson, granting U.S. statutory citizenship to people born in Puerto Rico and restructuring the island’s civil government into executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The Selective Service Act of 1917 followed soon after, allowing the U.S. to draft soldiers, including Puerto Ricans. Take a wild guess at what happened next.
Puerto Ricans have served in every major U.S. conflict since World War I:
- World War I: Roughly 18,000-20,000 Puerto Ricans served after the Jones-Shafroth Act and the 1917 draft.
- World War II: About 65,000 Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. armed forces.
- Korean War: Around 61,000 Puerto Ricans served. The 65th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Borinqueneers," distinguished itself in combat. Multiple Puerto Ricans received the Medal of Honor, and the unit was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
- Vietnam War: About 48,000 Puerto Ricans served. Hundreds were killed, thousands wounded, and several received the Medal of Honor.
- Gulf War (1990-1991): Roughly 10,000 Puerto Ricans served.
- Iraq War and post-9/11 operations: Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sources cite about 38,000 in Iraq alone, including decorated soldiers and the first U.S. Army nurse killed in combat since Vietnam, who was of Puerto Rican descent.
Estimates suggest at least 375,000 Puerto Ricans are active-duty service members or veterans, with a service rate higher than any U.S. state. Is this not American?
Puerto Rico has long been an unincorporated territory of the United States, governed under the Territorial Clause; as much as it pains me to state this, It belongs to the U.S. Critics frame Benito's performance as anti-American because it was in Spanish and highlighted a “pan-American” and Puerto Rican identity.
English is neither the only language spoken in this nation nor its official language. Spanish has been present in the territory of today’s continental United States since 1513, when Juan Ponce de León’s expedition arrived. In 1565, Spain founded St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement on the continent. Spanish was spoken there decades before the establishment of Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620).
Spanish communities and language then spread through what are now Florida and the U.S. Southwest (New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California), along with Puerto Rico, and have had an unbroken presence ever since. In terms of European languages, only Native American languages predate Spanish in U.S. territory.
Benito's halftime show was, albeit in Spanish, truly American. This country's strength is its immigrants. We are a nation of immigrants, and that makes us, at our best, the greatest country on earth. America is an extraordinary experiment: different cultures blending together under one flag, united by shared principles of God and country.
Benito showed the world that the United States is exactly that—united by centuries of shared history, by the languages we speak, and by the belief that together we are stronger in a way no other country can imitate.
Those 13 minutes reminded me to be proud to have been born in Puerto Rico and proud to be an American. Both are true and, like Benito expressed, "The only thing more powerful than hate is love."
"Together, we are America."
God bless America.
So… Do you still think this was un-American?