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Super Bowl LIV: Johnny Cash, a tribute to the US flag and the silencing of protesting voices

By using Johnny Cash in their tribute to the flag, organizers have offended fans in a show that saw greater Latino representation than previous years

BY JENIFER GONSALVES

PUBLISHED FEB 3, 2020

"All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate...I choose love."

Johnny Cash believed in a united America. And today's Superbowl commercial featuring soldiers raising a 'ragged old flag' appeared, at least to some, to honor his vision.

At a time when the country seems more divided than it has ever been, the tribute proved to be an extremely emotional reminder of what the country once stood for. One user tweeted, "Who else cried from the Johnny Cash commercial? We are a large dysfunctional family but WE ARE ONE!!! USA USA USA."

American country singer Johnny Cash (1932 - 2003) and his wife June Carter Cash (1929 - 2003) leave the front gate of Kansas State Prison, circa 1968. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

But if you thought it was that simple, then you haven't been paying attention. Twitter users quickly took to the platform to highlight why this moving tribute was also in many ways hollow and disrespectful.

Peter Ramsey, director of 'Rise of the Guardians' and 'Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse', tweeted, "Resenting Johnny Cash being used for this 'Don't Kneel During the Anthem" PSA,' before fellow users elaborated in the replies, "I missed it, but being from Nashville I know Johnny Cash well — he’s be pissed! He was so progressive, yet the some of most regressive people in this nation view him as a part of the soundtrack of their lives... You can’t support a white supremacist who advances vicious, racist policies and not be racist. anti-black, anti-muslim, anti-mexican — while accelerating the destruction of the planet!"

Another user replied, "Cash would have supported the protests."

Johnny Cash performs during an all-star Tribute to Johnny Cash at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City that is scheduled to air on TNT April 18, 1999. Johnny Cash died September 12, 2003, in a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee while being treated for a stomach complaint. He was 71 (Getty Images)

The NFL has allegedly blackballed Colin Kaepernick, preventing him from playing or being signed onto any teams. Kaepernick is famous for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality in a move that has garnered him support as well as criticism.

Despite Roc Nation being signed on in a change initiative that saw a record number of Latino performers, including Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, at this year's show, the Carters — Jay-Z, Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy — chose to sit down during Demi Lovato's rendition of the national anthem, seemingly carrying on the protest despite appearing to 'betray' Kaepernick with their decision to collaborate with the NFL in the first place.

Many have highlighted the double standards of the NFL, who bench players that exercise their democratic right to peacefully protest while also paying tributes to the country's flag and president, stating that the right to stand and the right to kneel are both equally valid.