Black People Must Boycott The CMAs After Organization’s Response Surrounding Beyoncé CMA Performance
Although I wouldn’t call myself the biggest Beyoncé fan, it would be unethical for me to discredit all that she has done. This is a woman who started out in a girl group which broke records left and right, but rose above Destiny’s Child and made a name for herself on her own. She has managed to not only command the music industry but, also, she has become world renowned for her hand in philanthropy. You can’t do anything but respect that, right? Right. So, when I heard about the Beyoncé CMA Performance (Country Music Association Awards), I felt a sense of reverence for her. ‘Mama, we made it!’ I thought to myself as I saw the plethora of tweets and Facebook posts flooding my timeline about the magical and historical event happening before us.
Now, I am not saying it’s ‘magical and historical’ only because of Beyoncé; I’m saying that because this is an African-American female with a majority of her music targeted to an urban audience, and she’s performing at an award show for a music genre mainly dominated by the Caucasian race. That’s what makes this event ‘magical and historical’.
What came as a surprise to me was the amount of hate and backlash she received just at the announcement of her performance. Thinking back on it, this was only to be expected, though. Look at how they chewed her out for her Black Panther inspired performance at the Super Bowl. You really think this wouldn’t ruffle feathers a bit? Granted, the Beyhive definitely outweighed most of the detestation. Of course, we all know that when it comes to Queen Bey, the Beyhive will literally go to war for her—and once you’ve picked that battle with them, there is no turning back! However, seeing all of the racist commentary—from critics, really bothered me, personally. It bothered me because every time I think that the world is past something or moving forward, I’m reminded that we aren’t. From the police brutality to the senseless racial killings, all of this is just a harsh reminder that we—as African-American people, are still very much despised in today’s world.
Racism is a sensitive subject for most, but the reality is, it still exists. The social uproar the Beyoncé CMA performance caused, proves just that. Nonetheless, Beyoncé disregarded the opinions of others and made her way to the stage, doing what she does best—putting on a great show. Millions of people, who had never even thought about tuning in to the CMAs, were glued to the TV, waiting for her to hit the stage and then watching her every move. As I said before, I’m not a Beyoncé ‘advocate’ or anything of that sort; I just give credit where it is due. Beyoncé is a great performer, which is a given. I would never try to demean a fellow black woman, especially in the state that we are in now. Everything is so delicate and we need to love and support each other because this world sure doesn’t.
Beyoncé slayed the stage and left people in awe. She performed her crossover hit, “Daddy Lessons”, from her latest album Lemonade, alongside country music band, Dixie Chicks. In the midst of all of the backlash, the performance was incredibly done.
Watch The Beyoncé CMA Performance Below:
However, shortly following the performance, the CMAs removed ALL promotional tweets and traces of Beyoncé’s performance from their social media networks, all across the board. The discovery left fans perturbed, disappointed, and angry. Honestly, I think it was shocking, above all else. Had the CMAs used Beyoncé to boost their ratings? The case can be made that this was indeed the case. Basically, the Beyoncé CMA performance was an opportunity to bring in an urban audience that generally doesn’t even know the Country Music Awards are even on. Come on, they knew that if they had gotten an artist as big as Beyoncé, who is an African-American woman, with African-American fans, that would definitely do something in terms of rating for the CMAs.
According to a few media outlets, the CMAs likely removed the evidence due to the overwhelming amount of outrage from people who weren’t happy about the performance. However, I’d say that’s a bunch of bull crap. They were heavily promoting Beyoncé’s performance prior to showtime, but when it was over, they just decided to act like it never happened??? That can only be defined as exploitation. Exploitation in its most blunt form!
This exactly why I don’t think Beyoncé or any other Black artist should ever perform at the CMAs again.
The actions of the people behind the Award show were not only distasteful but, also, disrespectful. It was never about breaking barriers for the CMAs, it was all about making their association look good, by bringing in someone who is commercially popular and could contribute to the organization’s positioning.
If by small chance they deleted the promotion from their networks because of the ruthless remarks, that still does not make it acceptable. After they deleted the proof, they tried cleaning it up by sharing a post made by the Dixie Chicks of the performance. So, they were very aware of what they were doing. In all honesty, they probably didn’t think people would notice. To them, it may have been just a simple deletion of a tweet, but to us, it ranges much deeper.
Black women are often devalued and unappreciated for their hard work. When a black woman is very conscious of who she is, what she stands for, and what she does, that tends to intimidate people. So, they do everything in their power to tear them down. But, when that doesn’t work, they use the tactic of manipulation—getting what they want out of them. Piggybacking off their success. It’s sad, but it’s true.
Notwithstanding, the Beyoncé CMA involvement will definitely go down as a historical moment that may can be erased verbally, but not mentally.
Fans and critics are still going with their raving feedback, but, all in all, the singer is still thriving. Who knows; maybe Beyoncé will make a full leap into country music with her next album? We’ll just have to see.
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