What White People Didn’t Get About Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance
Here are some of the hidden messages
Reading through the mainstream media this morning, I couldn’t help but feel that I lived on a different planet. I mean, did we watch the same Super Bowl halftime? Kendrick Lamar‘s stellar performance at the event was a vindication for all the nonsense MAGA and Nazis have put us through since Trump‘s inauguration and actually since the first kidnapped African arrived on the American continent centuries ago. I cannot believe that the mainstream, mainly white media, didn’t see any of the messages and symbolism in Lamar’s performance. All they saw was his beef with Drake, I mean really? For those who didn’t get the symbolism behind the performance, here’s an analysis.
First thing was the surprise. Samuel L. Jackson, as a Black Uncle Sam, was probably the first thing to piss off white supremacists. In their history books, given that they’ve banned all others, Uncle Sam is always white. What a shock it must have been to see him as a Black man, of all things. For folks that freak out because of a Black little mermaid or Black Cleopatra, that must have been a shock. Sorry, really not sorry.
Not only was Uncle Sam Black in this rendition, he was also the voice of white people. You know, the one that says that Black people are too loud, too rowdy. At a point in the performance, he actually even says this to Lamar just before Sza comes to the spotlight with the type of soft-sounding song that white people like. But after that interlude, Lamar was back - singing loudly, unapologetically in what some might consider “too black“, “too loud“, yet again.
The message continued with the exclusively Black and brown dance troop. It was a complete contrast to the overwhelmingly white crowd that sat behind Trump at his inauguration just a few weeks ago and was indeed a sight to behold. Most beautiful to me was when the group went into formation - representing the American flag. All of them wearing durags - a headwear that Black people wear that has been wrongly identified as a piece of clothing that only thugs and criminals wear. As the dancers contorted into position to reveal the stars and stripes, I was beaming with pride at this act of quiet yet solid resistance. It spoke on behalf of all of us - Black, brown, and white who despise this new administration and how it is trying to divide us.
Did you notice that all performers were Black or brown? Oftentimes, in a show like this, a white woman would be featured prominently to make white people feel included and to make them feel safe. Here again, there is a hidden message to the new administration and MAGA: “We don’t need to include you since you want to kill all DEI - Here, have a taste of your own medicine and see how it feels to not be seen, represented, to feel excluded, to fill on the outside.” That’s the way Black people have felt for centuries.
My personal favorite as a Black woman was the fact that the show in itself was also a consecration to Black women, we that are so often neglected. Lamar gives space to Sza to be her fully unapologetic self. She flaunts her Black body - a body that is beautiful and voluptuous- not the mainstream media’s standard of beauty, which is white and skinny. It’s a statement to Black women and girls that they are beautiful the way they are.
Serena Williams, a tennis champion and Black female icon who has often faced vile racism because she is considered too manly, was also on the dance floor - undefeated by all the hate she once received because she did not fit the aesthetic.
Lamar’s entire show was full of symbolism and meaning. I probably haven’t caught them all. As the sociologist that I am, I’ll continue to analyze his masterpiece in the days to come and maybe write another piece.
What I did want to share here was: Don’t believe the mainstream media when they say his was the worst halftime show in all of the Super Bowl’s history. That’s absolute crap. Lemar mounted a brilliant, well-thought-of, and executed act of resistance against the current administration, and the thug in chief - aka, Donald Trump, had a front-row seat to it. It was wildly cathartic, and I thank him for that.
Thank you for reading my perspective.
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As a white person (71 years old) watching the halftime show I felt relief! That it was a bold drum beat of resistance and creativity! I don’t need or want white people to always be in the limelight. I need and want a reflection of our country represented! And I was so wonderfully shocked that Uncle Sam was a black man!! I thought it was a brilliant piece of resistance art! Thank you for your analysis.
I watched Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance & I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not get all the symbolism or really understand his performance until I read your article. I hope if you do watch again & have more insight that you’ll share it with us. I’ve never really listened to his music before, didn’t know anything about him but I do now because of this article & my own research of him after the show. I’m an almost 69 year old liberal white female living in a red southern state & I appreciate being educated on this. What a performance (now that it’s been explained to me) to give in front of that racist POS & in front of those people that were so “proud” of his presence there & in front of those who before his appearance took down a large poster/sign/murial saying “end racism” before the fucking racist in chief got to the stadium. I did read about that bit of news beforehand & of all cities to do that?? New Orleans has a large black population that are proud people (and should be) & for the NFL to do that is unconscionable in my opinion. I plan on adding Kendrick Lamar to my music rotation from now on. Any artist who doesn’t bow down & who stands on his principles deserves support & celebration.