Beyoncé wore a T-shirt during a Juneteenth performance on her "Cowboy Carter" tour in Paris that sparked significant controversy.
The shirt featured images of the Buffalo Soldiers, Black U.S. Army units active in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and included text on the back that described their adversaries as “the enemies of peace, order, and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.”
The phrase "warring Indians" has been widely criticized as anti-Indigenous, as it frames Native Americans as aggressors, ignoring the context of their resistance against U.S. westward expansion, which involved violence and land theft.
Fans, Indigenous influencers, and academics expressed outrage on social media, arguing that the shirt promotes a harmful narrative about Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as obstacles to American progress, rather than victims of imperialism.
Beyoncé has not publicly addressed the backlash, and her spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
What are your thoughts on the controversy surrounding Beyoncé’s Juneteenth performance outfit? Do you think the criticism is fair, or was the message misunderstood?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below — let’s talk about it. 👇
The shirt featured images of the Buffalo Soldiers, Black U.S. Army units active in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and included text on the back that described their adversaries as “the enemies of peace, order, and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.”
The phrase "warring Indians" has been widely criticized as anti-Indigenous, as it frames Native Americans as aggressors, ignoring the context of their resistance against U.S. westward expansion, which involved violence and land theft.
Fans, Indigenous influencers, and academics expressed outrage on social media, arguing that the shirt promotes a harmful narrative about Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as obstacles to American progress, rather than victims of imperialism.
Beyoncé has not publicly addressed the backlash, and her spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
What are your thoughts on the controversy surrounding Beyoncé’s Juneteenth performance outfit? Do you think the criticism is fair, or was the message misunderstood?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below — let’s talk about it. 👇
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