This cultural appropriation is most evident in a recent video of our beloved Bieber butchering a performance of “Despacito” at a nightclub. In the video, which went viral on Twitter, Bieber replaces the song’s lyrics with “Despacito, I don’t know the words so I say pocito, I don’t know the words so I say Dorito.”
These statements highlight both the cultural appropriation of Bieber’s nightclub performance and the white privilege he has to disrespect Latino culture. Bieber’s performance reveals that, for him, the Spanish language is one to make exotic. He disrespects the language and the cultures that use it, and his upsetting performance — drunk or not — tells Spanish speakers that a white man can strut in and take over the show without appreciating the language’s roots.
There are countless videos of white people yelling at Latino individuals to speak English or go back to their native countries. There are rules enforced in workplaces that discourage native languages from being spoken at all. My dad is not permitted to speak Tagalog with his Filipino coworkers during lunch hour because others feel threatened or disrespected. My Venezuelan best friend was once kicked out of a classroom because speaking Spanish was a disturbance.
