While most people were discussing the Super Bowl halftime show and it’s awesomeness, plenty of viewers still had the emotional energy to debate whether or not Beyoncé and Jay-Z were wrong or right in their decision to remain seated during the National Anthem, most likely to protest police brutality in the same vein as Colin Kaepernick.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Bey and Jay would take the time to make a political statement considering her Super Bowl performance a few years ago was full of meaning, but people are getting heated over whether or not this subtle act of resistance was the right call.
Jay-Z and Beyonce sat during the National Anthem at the #SuperBowl https://t.co/Cxj2RNF1xX
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) February 3, 2020
As is usually the case with this sort of thing, Republicans and other right-wing people are angered at what they interpret as a lack of patriotism. Fox News pundit Tomi Lahren had this to say:
“Beyoncé & Jay-Z (former crack dealer)sit for the national anthem because apparently the United States of America has oppressed them with millions upon millions of dollars & fans. Sounds rough. Maybe they should try another country that allows them a little more freedom & success?”
Plenty of people on Twitter echoed her sentiments, telling Bey and Jay to go elsewhere if they “don’t like America.”
Beyoncé & Jay-Z (former crack dealer)sit for the national anthem because apparently the United States of America has oppressed them with millions upon millions of dollars & fans. Sounds rough. Maybe they should try another country that allows them a little more freedom & success?
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 3, 2020
However, some people applauded them for taking a stand, or at the very least didn’t think people should take it so seriously.
“There was backlash when Kaeprnick kneeled during the Anthem, and now Beyonce and Jay-Z. Thing is, there’s too much information on this matter for people not to understand why African Americans are disinterested in standing during the Anthem.”
“LOL at conservatives losing their sh*t over Beyonce and Jay-Z not standing for the anthem. Maybe if you guys would also take several seats and pay attention to actual injustice America would be better.”
“Me blocking all the white supremacists calling Beyoncé and Jay-Z trash for sitting during the national anthem.”
People are more upset at Beyoncé and Jay-Z sitting during the national anthem than at Trump bribing another country to win another election. pic.twitter.com/X5DIJqqQ1t
— Johnnie 💞⛈🐉 (@jnewsworthy) February 3, 2020
However, the issue does get a little more complicated when you see Kaepernick’s response. He added a screenshot of a headline to his Instagram story with the caption “I thought we were ‘past kneeling’ tho?”
This is a reference to some statements that Jay-Z made when he partnered with the NFL in 2019.
“I’m not minimizing [protests] because that has to happen, that’s a necessary part of the process. And now we all know what’s going on. What are we going to do? How are we gonna stop, because the kneeling was not about a job, it was about injustice. Let me bring attention to injustice. Everyone’s saying, ‘How are you going forward if Kaep doesn’t have a job.’ This wasn’t about him having a job. That became a part of the discussion. He was kneeling to bring attention to injustice. We know what it is. Now how do we address the injustice?”
Colin Kaepernick reacts to Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s decision to sit down during the National Anthem after the rapper promised to take action and go beyond kneeling upon his deal with the NFL:
"I thought we were 'past kneeling' tho?" pic.twitter.com/9MdjJMWQUD
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 4, 2020
