We Got Off Track
I think we got off track.
How did a Superbowl half time show get so politicized? Because it was hyped up to be that.
It was hyped up to make people feel bad for having an opinion.
The media’s hype was meant to drive ratings. To sell more ads. To get people to tune in. And it worked.
And, it has deepened the division in this country.
I’m not a racist because I don’t like that type of music. I’m not a horrible human being for not wanting to listen to music entirely in Spanish at a U.S. national event. I’m half-Italian, and I wouldn’t want to listen to music sung all in Italian at the Super Bowl either.
I’m a Realist, Not a Racist
We’ve complained about other Super Bowl halftime shows, but not with this much contempt. So, what is different?
Do I think Bad Bunny’s music is bad, or that he’s someone to fear or hate? Absolutely not!
This issue has made me want to write down what I believe is a catalyst for this current state of affairs.
To continue, I want to be very clear: I am an open-minded, peace-loving person who wants only the best for everyone living in this country. I have no beef with Latino people. It’s just communicating with them is difficult if they don’t speak English. I don’t like to judge people, and I only seem to do it when someone disrespects me, pisses me off, or hurts me. If you respect me, I have no issue with you.
I believe in freedom and in being who you are, not fitting neatly into a box to be like others. But, we do need to be able to communicate with people in both business and personal situations in the language of the country we live in, don’t you agree? I’m an American and speak English. I was born here, but my ancestors were immigrants from another country who did not speak English when they arrived; they had to learn it.
How we have gone so far off track from who we are as a country is beyond me.
We’re all products of immigrants unless our ancestors were indigenous people to the land of the United States.
My ancestors, who came from Italy and Eastern Europe, didn’t know how to speak English when they got here. But they learned how to speak it. (I think I heard the older ones didn’t speak English well, but I’m sure they tried.) They didn’t have the option to press 1 for Italian or 2 for Polish. If they wanted to work and communicate with others who spoke English, immigrants had no choice but to assimilate into the country by learning to speak, read, and write the language of the new land. I’m sure they had help, as there is a lot of support out there today for learning to speak, read, and write English.
I imagine it is quite difficult and stressful for immigrants to learn a new language. When immigrants came over from Europe in the twentieth century, they knew they had to learn English to survive. They did not go to lawyers to fight for the right to speak their mother tongue and receive special treatment; I’m sure they thought nothing of learning the language of the country they chose to live in if they were to be part of society.
Fast Forward
Our country/government/corporations/whatever powers that be have been bombarded by lawyers and special interest groups to push the agenda that the Spanish language has just as much right to be used as the language as English in this country. In a personal environment, family situation, or even church, sure. The government wants to have bilingual signs, great.
But when it comes to business dealings or a nationwide television event, where not everyone speaks Spanish, a different agenda is at play. It seems like Bad Bunny performed to create chaos, to increase his brand awareness, not to celebrate another language. If that were the case, why not have a TV program specifically showcasing a Latino artist’s music in Spanish? Then folks would have the option to tune in. With the Super Bowl, you’ve got a captive audience who is watching the game. And yes, I know we can mute it or look away. It’s the pre-game hype and the divisive aftermath that have me contemplating this.
I don’t have to learn to speak Spanish or any other language besides English if I don’t want to. The America I live in was built on the English language. You don’t see Canadians pushing French on us, where many people in the country speak it.
Here’s What Got My Concern Heightened
A Hispanic man came to our house to install cable/internet from Comcast/Xfinity, and he did not speak any English. None. Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to communicate with him and ask questions about the service? The stress was so intense, I was practically shaking after he left. (We have since moved on from Comcast and gone with a company that had an English-speaking technician.)
I wondered: I live in Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, where English is the language of this country, and I can’t communicate with the man installing cable in my house.
If you have a problem with what I’m writing, you haven’t had to experience this. I deal with enough life stressors to have to pile this on top of them. And it is happening more and more.
This isn’t a complaint about another race; it’s a statement of fact: if we can’t communicate with each other as human beings (regardless of race), what are we doing? I’m a decent human being who would very much like to communicate with another human being in the language in which I know, in the country whose language is English.
How about the Amazon delivery driver who spoke only Spanish, blocked my way at the door of a business, and didn’t understand when I said I had to get through the door. I couldn’t tell him I was about to pee my pants if he didn’t move because he didn’t speak English.
Do you know how frustrating that was? I had to push my way through the door. I was quite frazzled by the experience.
I was at the doctor’s office waiting to check in. A Spanish-speaking man and woman with a baby were in front of me and did not speak any English. The employee trying to check them in was so stressed that she was trying to communicate with her hands. I guess she thought sign language might help. It did not.
The doctor’s office had to get someone on the phone to translate for the couple. As I waited to check in, the employee did not take the next person in line while waiting for the translator. I stood in line with others, watching restlessly as Spanish-speaking people spoke with the translator, who then had to translate for the employee. This made me late for my appointment and getting back to work.
See, that’s now my problem because it affects me.
Do You Think This is Okay?
We’ve had neighbors who lived next door and spoke only Spanish. We had a situation where someone was blasting music after midnight for a few nights in a row. I couldn’t take it anymore. I went there and kindly asked them to please stop playing the music so loudly at night so we could sleep. The woman could not understand me. Talk about frustration.
Was she frustrated? She didn’t appear to be. But we lost sleep over it. Yes, I know, I could’ve called the police, but I figured by the time they got here, the music might be turned down, and then I look like the loony neighbor telling tall tales.
Why should I have to be okay with that? Why should we just accept it and be quiet? That’s how we got into this situation!
This is the United States of America, and it was founded by men who spoke English. The constitution is written in English. Our ancestors came to this country for a better life, and they knew they would have to learn how to speak English to survive. There was no other way.
Having Spanish singing at the Super Bowl is showing Latinos who refuse to learn English that it’s okay, and we English speakers have to suck it up and deal with it.
To me, it’s like a child refusing to learn to tie their shoes, wanting someone else to do it, and not taking responsibility when they trip over the laces.
We All Need The Ability To Communicate
This should not be a political issue. Isn’t it a basic right to be able to communicate with people in our own country?
Communication is the way we interact with others.
People can speak their native languages with friends, at church, or in social situations with family. Still, we need to hold people accountable for speaking English in business or legal situations, personal situations with neighbors, communicating with strangers, when seeking government assistance, or in medical situations that aren’t dire emergencies where a translator would be warranted.
How can they feel okay living here and not wanting to learn English? I think it’s because we keep accommodating them so they don’t have to. Our country has made it too easy for Latino folks not to have to learn to speak English. I just called an American credit card company and heard Spanish first!
This is putting unnecessary pressure on English-speaking people, but how about the teachers, who aren’t paid enough to handle the stress they already carry, let alone teach children whose home language isn’t English? The adults in the house must feel they don’t have to learn it because America has decided to make it easy for them to live and thrive here, regardless. Employers now want bilingual employees to cater to Spanish-speaking customers. I’ve applied to jobs that showed “bilingual with Spanish a plus“, and I have to wonder whether not being bilingual is why I wasn’t a candidate.
We make it easier for them, but harder for us who speak English to communicate with one another.
I’m all for diversity, but we need a unifying language to communicate, survive, and thrive as a society, as human beings.
I was an English instructor for many years, and I had so many poorly written exams by people who couldn’t write in English. The “school” was a for-profit business owned by a private equity firm. It didn’t start out that way. It became a money-making enterprise, with no regard for ethical or moral obligations to the actually graduate students who knew how to speak, read, and write in English.
My job was to grade the final English exams before students received their high school diplomas. That “school” offered a second chance to students who failed the exam. The second time around, they could pass if they made enough changes to their work. But many of them didn’t change their work. Some exams came to me as the same exam I had graded before. I failed them only to be told I couldn’t do that. They let them go through and graduate I guess, even though they couldn’t read or write English enough for the exam. It boggles my mind.
What’s the incentive to try harder if there are no consequences if you don’t?
A Slippery Slope
I could go on about my experiences with this, but I won’t. I think I’ve made my point. We allowed this to happen, and if you think having a musical artist perform in Spanish at the Super Bowl is a good thing, then that’s your right. I’m not here to judge what anyone else thinks. I’m stating how this situation is affecting my life and how, as an overthinker, I see it as a greater burden for the country as a whole. I hope I’m wrong.
It’s only empowering Spanish-speaking people to believe they never have to learn English and that we, the native English-speaking people, need to accept it and either learn their language to communicate or allow them to keep disrespecting our country and let them continue living here without paying the price of admission – by learning the language.
We’ve been on a slippery slope with this for a long time, and for me, it’s getting to the point where my life is being negatively affected.
When someone doesn’t respect the country, the town, or the neighborhood they live in, it’s because they realize they can get away with it without consequences.
We Have a Choice
We could keep letting this happen, or we could pay closer attention to how this situation will influence our interactions in business, medical situations, and so forth.
We can’t make it easier for some and more difficult for others just because the media wants us to believe it’s racist to speak up. It’s not being a racist if you want to be able to communicate in your native language in your own country!
Bad Bunny said, “English is not my first language. But it’s okay, it’s not America’s first language either.” So, should we be speaking the language of the Native Americans then? I’m pretty sure they did not speak Spanish. The settlers who colonized this country came from England, where they spoke English. They took the land from the indigenous people and brought a sense of civility to it. Was that right? Who am I to say? I’m living on the land the English colonized.
Many Latino people I have interacted with do not show respect for people outside their race or the land they live on. They seem to enjoy the fun part of life, and that’s okay. I, however, like to live in a civilized way and respect all people, places, and things. If we can’t communicate this, how can we live together in peace and be happy?
While I don’t agree with many of the Trump Administration’s policies, I do think its policy of Designating English as the Official Language of the United States is warranted and necessary.
It states, “A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.”
Think About This
In October, after speaking in Spanish on television regarding his upcoming Super Bowl performance, Bad Bunny said, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
He tried to backtrack what he said, but just the mere fact of him saying it says all I need to know about who he respects, and it’s not Americans, but we’re supposed to respect him?
If I went to another country, wanted to become a citizen, and work there, the first thing I’d do is learn the language so I could communicate and function there. I would respect the country’s people, their system of law and government, and their language. I would never have thought I was entitled to speak my native language and still be able to function in that country. I would absolutely take the initiative to learn the country’s language.
Immigrants from all over the world have built the United States of America. That is a great thing. The English language unites us as a nation. That’s how we communicate. I know that English is spoken all over the world and is a way for us to communicate with one another. I’m not saying it’s a better language than any other, but someone decided it could be a unifying language, and it is. However, if an English speaker travels to a non-English-speaking country, they are responsible for learning the local language to function there. I know I don’t expect another country that has a different language to cater to me as an English-speaking American.
This isn’t about politics. This isn’t about taking sides. This is about our English language being eroded and disrespected in a national pastime championship game.
This country has made it far too easy for people to speak Spanish without ever learning English. Just as you wouldn’t want to cater to a child who is disrespectful for not wanting to clean their room or help out around the house, you should be thinking that it’s not okay for people who want to live and work in the United States of America not want or have to learn how to speak English.
Thank you for reading this. I wrote this to get us to pay closer attention to what is happening in our country. If it hasn’t affected your life yet, it will.
To Telling It Like It Is,
Francesca
Written by a human for humans.
© 2026 FrancescaME | All rights reserved.
NO AI TRAINING: Any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
