Lesson on Culture during Super Bowl Halftime Show

I always look forward to Super Bowl Sunday. It's a fun reason to get family and friends together, to place silly bets, and critique the year's commercials. Since I love concerts and live musical performances, I always look forward to the halftime show, too. This year had me very curious and interested since I've always enjoyed Shakira's music. As I watched the halftime show with a big spectrum of ages, from my own parents to my own kiddos, I found myself curious about the clothing and prop choices. My dad kept asking questions and commenting on how offensive or strange the show was, especially with its lack of English (ethnocentrism in action!) and American pride. I tried to remind him this was Miami, home to a strong Latino culture. The next morning, I stumbled upon this Social Media post by

Brianne Schneckenberger is with Brook Elise Steppe:

The comments and memes about last night's half-time show just reminds me how white-centric the American mind is. There were so many cultural references in last night's show and I'd say probably very few white Americans recognized them.

The Superbowl was hosted in Miami this year - a city nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America".

Some of the costumes in J-Lo's performance showed a tribute to Selena, one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of all time (who J-Lo played in the 1997 biographical film.)

J-Lo, who is of Puerto Rican descent, donned a reversible cape showing the Puerto Rican and American Flags on either side. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory which is still recovering from devastating damage from a hurricane and subsequent earthquakes. J-Lo has notably donated at least $1 million towards aid for Puerto Rico. Her daughter singing "Born in the USA" was a reminder that Puerto Ricans are Americans too.

I know some people said "Let's have more of the kids singing! It should be family friendly!" While that was happening, other children were shown in cage-like structures to represent a subtle nod to the children (mostly of Latino descent) we have kept in detention over the past several administrations.

And Shakira. Thanks to my sister's obsession I grew up knowing a LOT about Shakira! Her father's parents were Lebanese immigrants who emigrated to New York City where her father was born and then subsequently immigrated to Barranquilla, Colombia - where waves of Middle Eastern immigrants came after WW1 and WW2.

The "weird tongue thing" she did? That's called a zaghrouta which is used to express joy in Arabic culture. Shakira is very proud of her Lebanese roots and has been belly dancing since the age of 4.

The "stomping dance" she did? Champeta! A tribute to Afro-Colombian culture.

In fact almost all the dancing in the half-time show was a nod to Latin or Afro-Latin culture including mapalé and salsa.

So maybe you thought it was "nasty" or "not family-friendly" but I saw it as pride, a celebration of culture, and one of the most honoring things these two women could have done for Latin Americans. 🤷‍♀️