The ideas behind the American Revolution were indeed noble. Wanting to claim their independence and establish a new form of government where every voice is valued and heard, the original thirteen colonies of the United States showed selflessness as they fought with the whole of the people in mind. It was also the first of none too many times that the people of the United States got together to fight for one purpose and with one goal in mind, to be freed from tyranny and have the freedoms they wanted.
Despite this, the idea of America being the “Land of the Free” is nothing but a genuine joke, especially in this day and age. Not only is the so-called “American Dream” just a false mirage of this image of perfection that the United States believes itself to be; it never was even meant for every demographic within the US. Despite our diversity as a country, the selfishness of money hungry and power hungry people ensured this would stay true. Under their twisted oppression of different peoples’ cultures and contributions, it was ensured for quite a long time that white people stayed at the top. Especially since our faces of power has 80% being white, even as the U.S. becomes more diverse (New York Times, 2020).
That being that, America has recently been a group of factions. People have broken off from the larger identity of being American that connects us and proclaims their difference from everyone else. This separation is especially evident in the way so many people actively choose to make simple arguments or disputes personal to themselves as they force a connection between the cause of the dispute to their ethnicity, or their racial or religious backgrounds, etc. People like to make them seem like personal attacks on what they themself stand for in order to try and not be the bad guy within the argument. So it makes it hard to come together when everybody is afraid of stepping on each other’s toes. Even despite all the lies the United States government has thrown at us along with the false promises they’ve made to us, these factions have continued to form and stay together, and we the people refuse to band together like we once had to combat this. What’s so different now? If we fought together it would be for the same purpose, a tyrannical government overstepping their boundaries and trying to control the public body to a tee.
In the face of ICE agents beating and unfortunately molesting (ACLU, 2026) not only fellow American citizens, but fellow humans for an unjust cause; or with our president turning out to be even worse of a man than we had feared, as he was mentioned in the Epstein files thousands of times (New York Times, 2026), you would think it obvious that people would band together with the common purpose of completely putting a stop to this highly unlawful operation. Or at the very least work together to get rid of such a terrible and dangerous man and stop letting him represent us, and yet, we sit here, still divided. Still afraid.
Said divide is also clearly potent within our individual communities as well. Personally, I refuse to talk to or even acknowledge a lot of the people who I share a community with. Not because of ignorance or being ashamed to be a part of them, but because of fear. The fear of saying something that might offend someone, or do something that’ll cause arguments or rifts. The feeling of walking on eggshells all the time is exhausting, so I choose to be blind to the people around me, and wallow in my ignorant peace.
Such cases of lies have become so mainstream that it’s even reached one of the biggest stages in the world, the Super Bowl. There are two specific performances that I believe this is most evident in, with one being Kendrick Lamar’s performance in 2025 as it was a very political heavy performance. With him saying things like “the revolution is about to be televised,” and “40 acres and a mule this is bigger than the music,” a notorious lie where the United States government gave land given to former enslaved turned freedmen back to their former slave owners (History.com, 2022) , he speaks about the lies told in the past by the United States government, and of the lies being told in the present too. He talks about the need for a movement of change within the United States, especially at this time.
He represented the United States’ twisted oppression of different peoples’ cultures with the use of Samuel L. Jackson, who played ‘Uncle Sam’ in the performance, and having him specifically say things in response to the songs Kendrick chose to sing such as “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” and “That’s what America wants! Nice, and calm. Don’t mess this up.” There’s also the way he chose to have the stage he performed on set up, with it looking like a video game controller likely to represent America’s attempt to “rig the game” and keep things under their control. No matter whom or what it affects.
The other performance that I believe this is most evident is Bad Bunny’s 2026 performance, which had a lighter message and wasn’t that long ago. Bad Bunny’s super bowl performance, though he touches on through a different approach than Kendrick did, also touched on the lies America has been telling us, and his message for dealing with said lies is able to be heard a little more clearly. He believes that the unity of the people will help combat the malicious targeted censorship of the American government and be a huge milestone, and stepping stone, towards a more unified world.
This message is imminent in his word choice and the visualization he provides during his performance. With phrases such as “How delicious is Latino. Today it’s visible!” “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” and “Together, we are America!” He says this as it is relevant to the recent ICE attacks on hispanic and other mostly non-white races as they beat, illegally detained, and even murdered these people. He talks about how it is necessary that the people recognize what the meaning of America truly is and recognize each other’s fellow humans. He believes the way to survive and move forward is through loving each other no matter our race, or religion, or any other factor.
He also best shows this desire to see a united nation through showing off hispanic culture and by inviting Lady Gaga, someone well known for her support of unity, to perform alongside himself. He is humanizing the people who are experiencing hardship as if to say to the rest of the world that “we are the same as them and are worthy of their support and protection” against said hardship.
The fact that so many of the United States’ faults have been broadcasted on one of the biggest stages in the world proves its faults are most definitely infamous. And if this is the case, then the message of unity is bound to be as well. I believe it’s about time we stop our inaction and at the very least be aware of our current situation as a nation; be knowledgeable about what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong; spread that knowledge to others and make it all open to the public so that we may face these current injustices together, and any future injustice as one.
