From Kaepernick to Bad Bunny: The NFL can’t stop bowing to racism

The NFL’s choice of Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny to headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show should have been cause for celebration. Instead, it’s a reminder that U.S. colonialism still dictates who gets to be on the biggest stage in this country.

The backlash from the right was immediate. Donald Trump called the selection “ridiculous.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatened that ICE would “be all over” the stadium. Conservative pundits sneered that he “has no songs in English” and is “not an American.” In reality, Bad Bunny — born Benito A. Martínez Ocasio — is a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico, a colony Washington has ruled since 1898.

The NFL’s answer to the backlash was equally revealing. Instead of defending its headliner, the league quietly booked British rocker Sting to headline a Super Bowl-branded “pre-halftime” concert in San Francisco. Tickets start at $750 — an expensive concession to soothe what one columnist called “whiny white tears.”

It’s not the first time the NFL has bowed to bigotry. When players like Colin Kaepernick protested police violence, the league punished dissent before pretending to make amends. Now, as it courts its fastest-growing audience — Latine fans — it’s still trying to please both sides of a divide rooted in racism.