{"id":755,"date":"2013-07-20T15:39:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T15:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wsantosblog.com\/?p=755"},"modified":"2013-07-20T15:39:33","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T15:39:33","slug":"even-mexicans-can-sing-god-bless-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=755","title":{"rendered":"Even Mexican\u2019s can Sing \u201cGod Bless America\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wouldn\u2019t it be amazing if Anoushka Shankar could perform a rendition of <i>God Bless America <\/i>at an MLB all-star game, her Sitar in hand, strumming a world beat, with a drummer at her side, adding color to our song? What about Femi Kuti, there at center field of the Yankee Stadium with his African rhythms? Why can&#8217;t Los Juanes love America too, or a Mariachi band? Celia Cruz would\u2019ve been great, with Tito Puente on timbales. Why not Juan Luis Guerra? That might actually be ideal since large portions of MLB players are Dominican anyway. It might make them feel more at home. Ironically, the same people bemoaning that \u201cMexican\u201d Marc Anthony singing the anthem are cheering for our darker Dominican brothers like David Ortiz and Melkys<!--more--><\/p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ee4AYeP7dFU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<p>New York native Marc Anthony recently had to defend his <i>Americaness<\/i>, after being called \u201cspic\u201d and \u201cMexican\u201d by a small, yet vocal group of Neanderthals. Anthony rightfully pointed out that he and his Puerto Rican brothers and sisters are American too. Sure, the bigots were wrong for calling him spic and Mexican. Sure, they were clueless about basic geography. Sure, they have a one-track mind when it comes to understanding what it means to be American. But they were wrong for an even bigger reason too. What if Marc Anthony was not American at all? What if he were Mexican? So what? What\u2019s wrong with having performers from different parts of the world singing the anthem at a sporting event?<\/p>\n<p>These bigoted comments against Anthony reveal an even bigger problem beyond their ignorance that Puerto Ricans are American, and that any American born person is by default and American citizen, regardless of where their parents were born. These comments in essence reaffirm the fact that, generally speaking, Americans seem to live in a bubble, isolating themselves from the rest of the world. They reveal the thinking that America is an exceptional empire that has no room for outsiders in our paradise. It is an isolationist mentality, rooted in empire and egotism. It is that \u201cus against them\u201d mentality that keeps the world divided, as they try to neatly compartmentalize one\u2019s identity in preconceived packages that dictate who can do what and where.<\/p>\n<p>Many have come to Anthony\u2019s defense, explaining and educating the ignorant about the fact that Puerto Rico is an American commonwealth and that Anthony was born in New York. As he himself put it, \u201cI\u2019m as American as apple pie.\u201d Yes he is. But to stop the argument there is in essence to agree with the bigots that only Americans should be singing the anthem at a baseball game. To defend Anthony on the grounds that he too is an American, basically says that because he is American, he has the right to perform the anthem anywhere he wants. That is true. But lets take the argument further and ask the bigger question, \u201cWhy can\u2019t a Mexican sing the anthem?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead of dividing us into colors and cultures, we should continue to embrace our commonalities and the basic fundamentals that unite us, and that is of course our base humanity, regardless of what country we come from or color we are. We should argue, not only the fact that Anthony is American too, but also that we should be open to appreciating other cultures within our borders. We should work more toward embracing divergent cultures rather then isolating ourselves behind an American curtain. This idea rests at the heart of what it means to be Cosmopolitan. It is the essence of a one world, one people, and one humanity point of view. Major League Baseball might consider inviting more international artists to perform their own interpretations of the anthem, rather than folding to the mind set that only citizens can and should sing at their games. After all, isn\u2019t America supposed to be this large melting pot?<\/p>\n<p>Learn about what it means to be cosmopolitan. Learn what it means to be one human race.<\/p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VjMnyP142b8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wouldn\u2019t it be amazing if Anoushka Shankar could perform a rendition of God Bless America at an MLB all-star game, her Sitar in hand, strumming a world beat, with a drummer at her side, adding color to our song? What about Femi Kuti, there at center field of the Yankee Stadium with his African rhythms? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37404269,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[651],"tags":[4774017,2489,201183,417316,6987,78812,110147,553664,374,20522,40034,21409,1374,851877,46960085,1868,209139,13443,67,3786,2213393,1857],"class_list":["post-755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-african-rhythms","tag-american","tag-anthem","tag-celia-cruz","tag-controversy","tag-cosmopolitan","tag-critical-thinking","tag-god-bless-america","tag-ideas","tag-latino","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-marc-anthony","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-all-star-game","tag-one-world-view","tag-philosophy","tag-puerto-rican","tag-racism","tag-sports","tag-thinking","tag-wilson-santos","tag-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2z1Px-cb","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":449,"url":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=449","url_meta":{"origin":755,"position":0},"title":"America is&#8230; (2012)","author":"Wilson Santos","date":"February 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"america is a giant paradox, bubbling like volcanoes about to explode america is a blossomed gardenia, whose petals have begun to unfold america is Capricorn rising, the truth is yet to be told america is \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 foreclosed property, drowning in all her fool\u2019s gold america is sun in the summer,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poetry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?cat=422"},"img":{"alt_text":"the american flag","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wilsonsantos.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/american-flag.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11,"url":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=11","url_meta":{"origin":755,"position":1},"title":"Contract with America (1994)","author":"Wilson Santos","date":"July 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"everytime I hear newt gingrich speak about the contract with america i feel like tearing out my asshole placing it in a small box mailing it first class via the US post service to the house of congress labeled \u201cconcerned citizen\u201d and watch him open it live on c-span so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poetry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?cat=422"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":140,"url":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=140","url_meta":{"origin":755,"position":2},"title":"Contract with America &#8211; live reading","author":"Wilson Santos","date":"July 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Recorded during the Literature Lives open mic event at the North Bergen Free Public Library in NJ on June 27th 2012. These literary readings are held once a month on the last Wednesday of every month. This poem was written in 1994 during the Clinton years, when Newt Gingrich was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?cat=924"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/YtwSHMJQbWQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=72","url_meta":{"origin":755,"position":3},"title":"The Suppression of Knowledge: An American Legacy","author":"Wilson Santos","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"*This essay was originally written for a Graduate writing class on\u00a0December 14, 2009. Bertolt Brecht, the renowned German poet and playwright once wrote, \u201cHungry man, grab that book.\u201d\u00a0 Brecht recognized the power of knowledge and understood; one way to satiate hunger is through knowledge. \u00a0The American political system has long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Essays&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?cat=786"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=124","url_meta":{"origin":755,"position":4},"title":"Songbird (2011)","author":"Wilson Santos","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m a songbird blissfully gliding toward my sunrise. I stretch my wings from north to south and sing my sweet melody to freedom. I leave an American sour breeze at my wake and head east but I won\u2019t stop there. My gaze dreams upward to the universe divine I shift\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poetry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?cat=422"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":935,"url":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?p=935","url_meta":{"origin":755,"position":5},"title":"what can i say about paris?","author":"Wilson Santos","date":"November 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"what can I say about paris that hasn\u2019t already been said? on this day of mourning more than 120 killed should I call for a collective prayer? that\u2019s been done millions of times on your facebooks and your twitters and your instagrams. I could post the french flag over my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poetry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/?cat=422"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wilsonsantos.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/paris-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wilsonsantos.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/paris-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wilsonsantos.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/paris-6.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wilsonsantos.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/paris-6.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/37404269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilsonsantos.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}