Beyoncé Breaks Racial Barriers For The Benefit of Our Country

Beyoncé performed her new single Formation at the 2016 Super Bowl highlighting black culture and received negative backlash. Why is this? Was her message really negative? Did she have some good points? If you watched the performance, what was your initial response?

Reflecting on 50 years of Super Bowl halftime performances, Beyoncé’s “Formation” performance at this year’s Super Bowl must have been the most controversial. The halftime show created political tension and negative backlash toward Beyoncé. This performance may even be more controversial than Janet Jackson’s performance in which her breast was suddenly exposed, causing the NFL a great deal of embarrassment while families stamped the show as inappropriate. Beyoncé’s performance at Super Bowl 50 created the same notion along with a massive political issue regarding race and police brutality. Days after her performance, social media began “Boycott Beyoncé” hashtags and anti-Beyoncé rallies according to Fox News because many did not believe her performance embracing black culture was appropriate. Considering the Super Bowl is one of the most viewed sporting events in America and is where we are able to celebrate parts of American culture like BBQs and witty commercials, we all expect to see a very “American” musical performance every year at halftime. If America is a place that encourages all people to be proud of who they are and where they come from, how can lyrics such as “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag” and “I like my negro nose and Jackson 5 nostrils” be taken offensively to some, especially coming from a highly respected and empowering African American woman? How can any of the words in Beyoncé’s song Formation be offensive in any way toward police officers? Why are officials embarrassed by Beyoncé’s expression of a very American black culture?

Beyoncé’s performance was intended to be more empowering than offensive by embracing current black culture. Many Americans were not ready for such a fiery performance, which showcased an all-black cast of dancers, confidently dressed in tight leather outfits and military berets reminiscent of the Black Panthers. If America really takes offense to this sort of celebratory display from African-Americans, racial injustice and discrimination will never truly fade. The negative backlash to Beyoncé’s empowering lyrics, music video, and outfits worn during the performance proves there is still a present negative view on black culture. Although a number of Americans did not appreciate the performance, most did and found it extremely powerful and admirable. We all need to face the realities of racial injustice in America.

Racially-driven police brutality has been an issue since the 1950s and there have been many movements in effort to end the issue.The Black Lives Matter movement that started in 2013 and the Black Panther movement from the 1960s are prime examples. Considering Beyoncé is such an empowering woman in America to people of many races, her platform allows for her pro-black message to be heard. Included in her pro-black message is her confidence in the Black lives Matter movement, which came about after numerous cases in which unarmed black citizens were killed by police. The Black Lives Matter movement is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-black racism that exists in society. Although this message is expressed in her music video in a scene with children and the words “don’t shoot us” written behind them on the wall, she does not mention these ideas in the actual song lyrics. Black lives matter is a relevant topic in current black culture, which is why she incorporated this idea in her video.

There is a distinct difference between anti-police music and music embracing black culture. Beyoncé’s lyrics simply confide in the embracement of black culture and pro-black attitudes, but many people are still considering the song to be anti-police because of imagery (that wasn’t included in the Super Bowl performance) like the “don’t shoot us” scene in the music video. However, anti-police music is nothing new and “Formation” is far from anti-police. The first major anti-police song came about in 1988 from the rap group known as NWA. If we compare Beyoncé’s lyrics to the historical NWA’s song “F the police” where their lyrics have a blatant anti-police message, we can see how Beyoncé’s song is harmless and strictly pro black. “F the Police” has a strict anti-police and police-brutality message that should not be compared to Beyoncé’s Formation lyrics. They refer to police officers as “nothing” and “punks”. Beyoncé’s lyrics do not mention the behaviors of police and their duties. In Beyoncé’s interview with Elle magazine, she was asked, “What do you feel people don’t understand about who you really are, and in particular about the message you’ve put forward with Formation?” She responded saying, “I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe. But let’s be clear: I am against police-brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things.”

We can call Beyoncé’s song “pro-black” and say that it “empowers women” because of the way she mentions and embraces many black cultural qualities. For example she embraces stereotypes when she says “I like my Negro nose and Jackson 5 nostrils” and “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag.” Beyoncé also empowers black women by saying “earned all this money but they never take the country out me”. She is implying that she will always remember and embrace where she comes from regardless of her becoming upper class. Furthermore, the Super Bowl happens to be in February, which is also Black History Month. Black History Month is dedicated to African American culture and its history, so it should not be considered bizarre or wrong for Beyoncé, an inspiring black female artist, to express her appreciation toward her black culture. She also says in her Elle magazine interview discussing the Formation criticism, “If celebrating my roots and culture during Black History Month made anyone uncomfortable, those feelings were there long before a video and long before me.” Beyoncé is not creating new issues and sending people negative police messages, but she is making this shaded issue and idea relevant. America needs to address and work toward solving these issues rather than attacking Beyoncé for shining light on them. How else can awareness be spread if nobody says anything?

Aside from lyrics, Beyoncé and her dancers’ all-black outfits perhaps play a role in this political controversy. They are wearing outfits that considerably resemble those of the participants in the 1966 Black Panther movement. The dancers wore all-black leather jackets and shorts along with military berets that are similar to the Black Panthers’. Although many people associate violence with the Black Panthers, the Black Panther Party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police-brutality. They fought for better gun control laws in order to make the lives of African Americans safer. Beyoncé and her dancers wore these outfits to show respect to some of the people who made a difference in black history, which should not be surprising during a time such as Black History Month. Even though Beyoncé and her dancers looked outstanding in their outfits, there was a negative association between their Panther-esque uniforms and the KKK. In the article “Sheriffs: Beyoncé is ‘inciting bad behavior’ and endangering law enforcement” by the Washington post, a sheriff named David Clarke makes the point that these outfits are similar because they were both worn by people involved in groups who participated in violent acts. He says that we would also be appalled if anyone was to wear “hoods and white sheets”. Many claim the Black Panthers were also a hate group toward police officers, but their main focus was to fight against police brutality. In light of the all-black outfits worn in the performance, Beyoncé was paying also homage to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. In the 1993 super bowl, MJ performed wearing a piece that looks just like the one Beyoncé wore in her performance. In an interview after the performance with Beyoncé by EXTRA, Beyoncé says “…it’s the 50th anniversary, so I gave love to my favorite performer.” Aside from the outfits, she also mentions Jackson 5 in her lyrics when she says, “I like my negro nose and Jackson 5 nostrils.” So instead of shunning Beyonce for her performance and outfits, we should appreciate how she was able to show respect to those who made a difference in black history.  

In addition, African American female artists have a harder time earning respect than any other artists. In an article named “Hip Hop Herstory” the author, Jodi Merriday highlights some of the accomplishments of many popular female hip-hop artists and how they have changed the industry. The author details the lack of recognition the artists receive and the hardships they face in the industry. Her research also discusses Hip Hop culture, production and music, while also providing a womanist perception of lyrics from artists like Salt N’ Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Sister Souljah. So, as an African American artist, Beyoncé is already in a category that makes it hard for people to appreciate what she has to say. Trying to convey a pro-black message is even harder because of the fact that America already tries to push aside issues regarding race. A black woman sending out a pro-black message should be appreciated and valued rather than debated. We should accept these types of performances so future generations of all races can do the same and embrace their respective cultures.

In America, we are told to express ourselves, to be proud of our culture and who we are. Criticizing Beyoncé’s performance is doing the exact opposite. It’s 2016, and an empowering African American woman speaking about racial issues and showing her black pride frightens America. The problem is not Beyoncé herself or her black pride, but it is the fact that America is too sensitive and uncomfortable addressing racial issues and black culture. No matter how hard we try to ignore and avoid drawing attention to racial inequality, the problem still exists. Continuing this behavior will make future generations afraid of making efforts to solve racial inequality and other sensitive issues. Instead of looking at Beyoncé’s performance in a negative light, we should embrace what she says in her lyrics about black culture and appreciate that she wants to make people feel empowered.

Unit reflection:

• The title focuses the reader’s attention because it expresses the main point that her performance was positive and the point of it was to help better our country and not cause more racial bias. It is a bit creative because is raises the question “How did her performance help our country? (Which is addressed in the article) Yes, the title does provide insight to the issue. I think my lede could have been a bit stronger to be honest.
• The intro of the article is inciting to the reader because it talks about the Super Bowl and this is something of interest to many Americans because many people watch it. The super bowl was fairly recent which is another reason why it can be considered inviting and this is why it also reflects exigency. It locates a problem because it mentions the immediate backlash from the performance such as boycott Beyoncé hashtags and rallies.
• The writer offers a strong idea by showing the positive connections between Beyoncé’s performance to black history. The writer also mentions the point about February being black history month. This should automatically open the readers mind to acceptance of the performance. Not many people took this into consideration before judging her performance.
• I used many relevant connections and back-up to support the ideas. The historicized topics help make the main points stronger. It helps the reader understand the true meaning of some of the ideas conveyed in her performance and also helps to clarify some of the invalid argument of the controversy.
• In my writing, I address the fact that the audience will challenge my ideas by being descriptive about the performance and giving background history of some of the things that she presented in her performance. By doing this I was able to eliminate vagueness and questions about historic topics presented in her performance. I tried to use quotes directly from Beyoncé so that points are less arguable. I organized the article so that the main issues people had with the performance were addressed first, and then I gave information about Beyoncé’s character and role in society that helps support why her performance is so meaningful.
• I was able to create an importance of the debate by talking about the future issues that will come about it if Beyoncé did not do what she did. I was able to utilize research by providing quotes from Beyoncé directly on the topic of her performance, which made my arguments stronger. I tried to develop a persuasive stance by letting people know why her performance was important in today’s society.
• I was able to use 6 sources. My primary source was from an interview with Beyoncé in Elle magazine. I was able to use direct quotes from her answers to questions about the backlash from the performance.
• I was able to use historic information to help back up Beyoncé’s reasoning for some of the things she did in her performance. I was also able to use to secondary sources to help define and explain things such as the black lives matter movement. My sources deepened the meaning of the text because it helps readers understand the importance of black history in her performance.
• The use of rhetoric is present in my article when I talk about American values and cultures. This makes the readers reflect on their beliefs and values as Americans. (When I talk about how America is a place that we are supposed to be proud of who we are and our background) I also try to persuade the readers that if we don’t accept these types of performances, racial discrimination will never end.
• The first visual I chose was used to show how powerful Beyoncé and her dancers seemed onstage. It also allows to the readers to see the outfits that were described later in the article. The second image of Beyoncé next to Michael Jackson wearing the same outfit was used to show a detail that many people did not realize. Michael Jackson had an influence on her performance, and I think that detail is interesting that many people did not know before reading my article. I did not include an analysis of my photos but what was shown in the photo was described in the writing.
• My opening paragraph changes a lot from my first draft to my final draft. One of the biggest improvements over the course of editing and workshops was my claim. I was able to make it more detailed and specific to what I was going to talk about in my article. All of the work we did analyzing our sources made it easier for me to include them in my final draft.
• I only used a few hyperlinks. I tried to use them for articles from well knows news sites such as Fox News and things that people might want more information on such the Black Lives Matter Movement.
• I tried to make sure my sentence structure was appropriate for the New York Times. I tried not to make them too vague and I tried to make each sentence have meaning. My sentences were able to establish my credibility because I did not leave room for doubt or unsure thoughts. Since I was trying to persuade readers, I made sure my sentences were to the point.