Beyonce faces backlash after wearing shirt with anti-Indigenous language

[cbabe]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/29/beyonce-shirt-anti-indigenous-language

Beyoncé faces backlash after wearing shirt with anti-Indigenous language

T-shirt worn during a Paris concert sparked criticism for calling Native Americans ‘the enemies of peace’

Associated Press
Sun 29 Jun 2025 09.26 EDT

A T-shirt worn by Beyoncé during a Juneteenth performance on her Cowboy Carter tour has sparked a discussion over how Americans frame their history and caused a wave of criticism for the Houston-born superstar.

The T-shirt worn during a concert in Paris featured images of the Buffalo Soldiers, who belonged to Black US army units active during the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the back was a lengthy description of the soldiers that included “their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.”

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Several Native influencers, performers and academics took to social media this week to criticize Beyoncé or decry the shirt’s language as anti-Indigenous. “Do you think Beyoncé will apologize (or acknowledge) the shirt?” indigenous.tv, an Indigenous news and culture Instagram account with more than 130,000 followers, asked in a post on Thursday.

Many of her critics, as well as fans, agree. A flood of social media posts called out the pop star for the historic framing on the shirt. “We have to be honest about what they did, especially in their operations against Indigenous Americans and Mexicans,” said Chisom Okorafor, who posts on TikTok under the handle @confirmedsomaya.

A spokesperson for Beyoncé did not respond to a request for comment.

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[Clouds Passing]

1. Hey B, the enemies of peace are the rich