When Bad Bunny was announced as the Superbowl Halftime Show performer, many people objected to this choice. To many, a person who mostly speaks Spanish and was born in Puerto Rico, was not “qualified” to headline a show most famously catered towards Americans, specifically White ones. In Jose Gomez’s viral post on social media, he discussed the importance of this moment and how it uplifted many people, especially Americans, who may have felt othered by this country because of their race and heritage. Gomez harped on about the significance of a small child being the focal point of Bad Bunny’s performance. The child’s presence put a spotlight on current immigration issues within the United States while emphasizing who gets to be comfortable in America and why.
In “Colorblindness is the New Racism”, Armstrong points out that White people are not put under a microscope when living their ordinary lives because they are considered the framework in which everyone else has to compare their treatment to. Due to whiteness being made to seem untouchable, it makes it more apparent how negatively people of color are treated in comparison to their white counterparts. By operating with a colorblind mindset, people of color lose their humanity in the process because they are constantly treated as an afterthought and a burden.
To combat colorblindness, the concept of “color insight” helps to remedy the negative impacts that colorblindness has created. Developing color insight is a journey that requires a lot of heavy lifting, understanding, and compassion. One way to engage with color insight is to look for the “me” in every individual. By looking for the “me” in every individual, it follows an empathetic approach to understanding others and the differences between each other. If more people were able to see the “me” in Bad Bunny’s performance, they would have more than likely to empathize with the pain that his community is facing rather than ostracizing him for speaking up for his humanity to be seen by the American audience.
