Mariachi band’s national anthem at Bears vs. Eagles game ignites racism debate and US Senator response

To bring you up to speed, the Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles was preceded by the national anthem – performed by a mariachi band.

And what has followed in the nearly 24 hours since that performance is a dispassionate, logical discussion about the quality of the performance and The Mariachi Herencia de México’s choice of going for a big finish the crowd definitely didn’t expect but mostly celebrated.

Nope.

Sorry, but social media doesn’t do dispassionate or subtle music critique.

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What it has done is spawn an emotional and at times vitriolic debate that has included charges of racism by one of the group’s performers, counter-charges of the NFL continuing an offensive outsourcing of America’s game to foreigners …

…And a United States senator getting involved.

So, not tame stuff.

And if you cannot abide the heated exchange, then stop right here because the next few paragraphs will get into it.

But for the curious and engaged:

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We begin with the performance itself. To an ear not trained in music’s finer points, it sounded like any other national anthem early on in that the three-horn section of the ensemble led the way.

Mariachi bands don’t play salsa music, people. So no drum or bongo section setting the rhythm.

Where it got a little different (sideways?) was when the ensemble, dressed in their full traditional mariachi garb including wide brimmed sombreros, seemingly tried for a big finish. And that big finish didn’t sound like the traditional Star Spangled Banner at all.

Well, it wasn’t long before the critics hit the online streets. Some reactions:

• “Last time I checked, Mexicans have their own country and national anthem. We don’t need people dressed like Mexicans performing America’s national anthem.”
• “The performers were in full Mariachi regalia and that is 100% symbolism dedicated to Mexico.”
• “Why the F is a garbage mariachi band playing the national anthem?”

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To be accurate, The Mariachi Herencia de Mexico is a two-time Grammy-nominated group out of Chicago. And they were brought to the game as part of the Bears’ and NFL’s celebration of Hispanic and Latin Heritage Month.

The reaction to the group, meanwhile, came from both the left and the right sides of the political spectrum – with some people on the right questioning why the anthem was used to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month – even though Hispanics are the USA’s largest minority group – and some people on the left basking in the fact the people on the right might be triggered.

Some people from both sides also praised the performance.

That wasn’t enough for one of the group’s leaders, Alonso Orozco Jr., who saw the negative reactions and charged they were racist.

“Yesterday, we had the opportunity to perform the United States National Anthem for the NFL game between the Chicago Bears and the Eagles, and it was incredible to so so with love and respect for a great nation,” Orozco posted on X.

“However, a huge wave of racist criticism has emerged.”

What came next was a United States senator seeing an opportunity to dive into the fray that had nothing to do with United States Senate business. Arizona’s Ruben Gallego came to the defense of the mariachi band.

(And here I am, a United States sportswriter, writing mariachi band controversy play-by-play.)

Anyway, here’s the dispassionate analysis the online exchange missed:

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The NFL is indeed doing hard and consistent work to take America’s game international. And while that will likely first include more games abroad and then teams in Europe, Mexico might decades from now also have a franchise.

That NFL business decision has some fans in the United States upset because they see themselves as losing games when they’re shipped abroad.

That may explain some of the reaction that was then heaped on the mariachi band. But, to be fair, there were indeed some unkind comments online and none of those are apparent when other performers take unorthodox approaches to the national anthem, such as performing it with bagpipes.

But, again, all of this happened online.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Nobody ran on the field playing a banjo to defend America’s honor.

One more thing: It is not racist to criticize a performance.

It is not racist to have a dissenting opinion about the choice of performers or their performance. It’s America, amigos.

FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO