The halftime for the Super Bowl this year was especially laden with activism. Everyone is criticizing Beyoncé by calling her performance "inappropriate" for her supposedly anti-police song and her references to the Black Panthers and possibly Malcolm X but no one is talking about Coldplay supporting the LGBT campaign. If this isn't a clear example of the double standards that exist in our society, I don't know what is. I believe that Beyoncé's performance is especially important given the negative reaction and that it is important to look at the double standard we hold.
"Formation" is about Beyoncé embracing her black culture and heritage and urging others to see their black as beautiful too. While Beyoncé exclusively references the Black Lives Matter movement, the message can apply to all minority groups as well. The song calls for all African Americans to stand up and face the discrimination they have been facing for years because only together can they make a difference. This message can also be applyied to other minority groups as well.
Not only is the song being criticized, many are also criticizing her dancers' outfits resembling the Black Panther Parties' outfits and her dancers forming and 'x' to possibly reference Malcolm X. People are comparing Beyoncé supporting the Black Panther Party to a white artist deciding to wear a sheet to reference the Klu Klux Klan.
This is a completely outrageous comparison because the Klu Klux Klan murdered thousands of people whereas the Black Panther Party did not murder one person but instead provided food, clothes, and education to poor communities. Many forget that the FBI told people they were a communist group and were forced to disband. As to the reference to Malcolm X, whether or not this was the intention of Beyoncé, you also have to remember that while his views were quite radical in the beginning, after his trip to the Mecca he found a new sense of peace and activism and started to create a new following with these new ideas before he was assassinated.
This biggest issue we see here with these arguments are the ridiculous double standards we hold on African Americans as opposed to whites. On very clear example is that no one is talking about the impact of Coldplay's message "believe in love" with rainbow colors but are instead talking about how poor Chris Martin's performance was.
Also, artist like Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynrd, Pantera and Kid Rock have all used the Confederate flag in public performances, and while there is a big debate on the significance of the flag as either a cultural or racist symbol, the point is that no one questioned their use of the flag but when Beyoncé decides to reference important people involved in African American movements, she gets criticized all over the internet.This is just a couple of examples of the double standard we hold when it comes to the different races.
I think the message in Beyoncé's song is really important for all people; to learn to appreciate their backgrounds, but especially for minority groups to know that their unique traits are beautiful too. I think her performance was also especially powerful for not only the cause of African American people, although it exclusively references the Black Lives Matter Movement, but for all who are fighting for their rights. If people can't see the true meaning behind the performance than that just means we have that much more work still to do for the cause of all minority groups.
