What's the Super Bowl Halftime Show for Anyway?

Apparently, Beyoncé’s performance at Super Bowl 50 drew some ire from establishment types. Most notably, former New York City mayor RudolphGiuliani characterized it as “an attack on cops.” He went on to note that “What we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers, and focus on the fact that when something does go wrong, okay, we’ll work on that.”

Say what?

I’m comfortable saying that anyone who would tell African-Americans, particularly urban African-Americans, to “build up respect for police officers” is terribly ignorant. Keep in mind that “ignorant” isn’t necessarily an insult; it simply means that the ignorant person lacks information. Because anyone who looks at the raw numbers regarding police violence and homicide against African-Americans has to understand that there is a problem.

But Rudy says that “when something [goes] wrong, we’ll work on that,” right? I wish I could see where the work was happening, considering that institutionalized police violence against African-Americans is nothing new. Take a look at excerpts from Jack McCoy’s closing argument from a 1998 Law & Order episode:

How could such a horrifying thing happen in our city? It may be comforting to simply point at these two officers and say that Mr. Michaels's death was solely the issue of their sick, hateful minds, or to lay some of the blame on the police department. . . . [T]he police department did nothing, except issue reprimands. So other, well-meaning officers got the message. The department tolerates racists. It's OK to use racial slurs, to use excessive force, to use racial profiling. Not only that, it's OK to do it in front of your fellow officers. Don't worry, the buddy-buddy system will protect you. The blue wall will shield you from civilian authority. . . . As long as crime is down, as long as the streets are safe, as long as these abuses by police officers happen in someone else's neighborhood, we're content to look the other way. That's what these officers were counting on. That our failure to police them manifests our indifference – even our acceptance – of their methods. Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here's your chance to send a clear, unambiguous message to every police officer, good or bad, that we will not tolerate racism. That we will punish every abuse. And you can do it today by exacting from these two individuals the most extreme punishment under the law. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution recognizes our right to be secure in our persons, and protected from unreasonable seizures. No police officer can take those rights from us. Not unless we give them away.

Indeed, racism in police forces was a matter ripped from the headlines nearly twenty years ago. Charming.

OK, so even if it’s a really serious problem, maybe the Super Bowl isn’t the forum to address it. Mr. Giuliani commented that the Super Bowl is for “decent, wholesome entertainment.” I presume that by “decent” and “wholesome,” Mr. Giuliani means “non-controversial.”

Well, that’s simply not going to happen as long as the Super Bowl wants big acts on the field at halftime. Music has always been a way to rebel, to express discontent, to give disaffected youth something to grasp onto when they feel no one else understands.

In just the past ten years, the Super Bowl halftime show has featured the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” a scathing political critique; Madonna’s religiously controversial “Like a Prayer,” and Katy Perry’s lesbian experimentation anthem, “I Kissed a Girl.” And probably other controversial songs that I’m too out of touch to know are political.

Beyoncé addressed an issue that is literally a matter of life and death for her people. She addressed it in a way that social issues are often addressed, and in an environment where her words could reach a large number of people. That’s exactly what the forum is for.

As for the cops who don’t want to be questioned, well, stop brutalizing and killing black people. And those of you who aren’t doing it, speak out against your associates. Fix your damn house before you get indignant about being called out. Then we'll talk.