Justin Bieber’s “Despacito” insults Spanish language and Hispanic culture

When I first listened to “Despacito” last month, I was ecstatic Justin Bieber released a new song. It was catchy, it was fun and it had that summer vibe perfect for my long days at the pool. Little did I know that it wasn’t his song. In fact, it wasn’t even a new song. The original version, sung by Puerto Rican pop star Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, was released in January. The remixed version, featuring Bieber, surfaced two months ago.
                                     

Today, the No. 1 song in the United States is “Despacito” — with the Bieber feature, of course. Although deserving of its coveted perch on the top of the charts, it’s not free from the cultural appropriation almost expected from a very popular and very white pop star like Bieber.

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.

Top Food, Wine and Culture Travel Tips in Spain

Culinary travelers can find a variety of both new and popular experiences throughout Spain, from Madrid to Barcelona and even in lesser known regions.

Specializing in food and wine tours throughout Europe, parts of Asia, Morocco and Greece, The International Kitchen, is a boutique tour travel operator that has focused on culinary travel for the past 23 years. The company recently introduced its “A Capital Culinary Adventure in Madrid” itinerary. The new program was created by company vice president Peg Kern, who spoke with us about why the new program is ideal for a range of travelers with different interests, not just gastronomy.

“Madrid is one of Europe’s great capitals, which means it has a more cosmopolitan feel and international influences than many other cities in Spain,” said Kern. “That being said, it is still quintessentially Spanish in its culture and flavors, making it a real city of paradox and complexity. For example, you can explore not only the urban tradition of the "tapeo" (going bar to bar to taste different tapas dishes) but can venture out into the Madrid countryside to taste such local specialties as Castillian soup and suckling pig. It’s a wonderfully unique way to experience this fascinating city.”

Culinary experiences include a luncheon at Mesόn de Cándido, the only surviving public house alongside Segovia's 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct, known for its roast suckling pig and unique method of carving the meat. Guests will also have the opportunity to try the regional specialty of Cόrdoba, “salmorejo y flamenquín”, at one of the restaurants near La Mezquita. While in Seville, travelers will participate in a private Paella-making class and lunch where guests will learn how to make the saffron rice dish, which melds both Moorish and Spanish culinary traditions. Also, during a stop in Marbella there is an opportunity for adults to learn the art of blending sangria under the direction of an expert mixologist, while younger travelers can participate by creating their own nonalcoholic concoctions. Throughout the trip there are several opportunities for guests to sample tapas and regional dishes at various restaurants depending on the location, and Disney Adventure Guides can offer suggestions for which ever style of dining fits each specific family or group of travelers.

Who wants to study Spanish in Philadelphia?

The Hispanic immigrant community has played a fundamental role in the growth of the city in the last decade. In the streets it is more and more common to hear conversations held in Spanish. However, it seems that this important trend is not reflected in universities. Why? A general crisis in the study of the humanities would be the answer. AL DÍA News spoke with professors from three of the most prominent universities in the city.
                                 

The Hispanic population of the United States remains one of the most important communities in the country’s economy, culture and politics. That weight -of about 57 million people- exerts an important influence in several aspects of the national daily life. For example the use of Spanish as an official second language in many American cities accounts for its political recognition.

Focus on "heritage speakers"
In the United States, Spanish can be learned as a secondary language for two or three years in high school. However, the level acquired is not enough to communicate fluently, not even for the so-called "heritage speakers": Latinos of second or third generation, who speak Spanish at home, but who in many cases don’t know how to read or write, or do so with difficulty.

U.S. Universities: a tradition for Hispanic Studies
Nagy-Zekmi arrived in the United States in 1981 after completing his doctorate in Latin American literature at the University of Budapest. "The United States offered better options to continue with a  post-doc," says the Hungarian expert, who after working a long season at SUNY University in Albany, New York, joined Villanova in 2003. In recent years, Nagy -Zekmi explains that her department has noticed a smaller presence of Latin American students. Instead, the presence of Spanish students has grown, those who come to the United States attracted by the possibility of taking a doctorate and collecting a salary at the same time, something increasingly complicated in Europe. This is the case of Mercedes Cebrián (link is external), a writer and journalist from Madrid, who came to Philadelphia to finish her doctorate in Hispanic Studies at Penn University between 2013 and 2015.

The Culture of Symbols and the Realities of Culture

On Feb. 16, I traveled to Santiago de Cuba with a colleague, Arnold August, to pay homage  to Jose Marti and Fidel Castro at their respective tombs. August is a good friend of Cuba who has written books and articles about its revolutionary experience, basing them on his direct knowledge of on-the-ground realities. He had come as part of the Quebec delegation, a component of the Canadian delegation, to the Havana International Book Fair, this year dedicated to his own country. Among his personal contributions to the event was a speech — “Fidel Castro, Political Power, and the New Culture of Communication,” later published on Cubadebate in Spanish and English — that he gave at a symposium on the leader of the Revolution.

The plane took off for Holguin and the standard announcements came over the loudspeakers — in English only, even though the passengers were of various nationalities and quite a few were Spanish speakers, including some Cubans living in Cuba. Later on in the flight, I asked the friendly attendant how this could be, given that we were traveling on a domestic flight operated by Cuba and had bought our tickets directly from Cubana de Aviacion. She went into a long, involved explanation about how the plane is not Cuban, it is leased from Italy but operated by I forget which Cuban agency, the chief steward is Italian ... She neglected to mention the fact that Boeing is an American multinational, or to speculate as to whether that might have something to do with Cubana’s English-only announcements.

We ultimately did get a flight out, but our Canadian friend and others who had booked the charter were not offered compensation for being shunted into a significantly lower-priced class of service. “Cubana does not pay compensation,” is basically what we were told. Such a message attests to a deficiency in the way we operate as a nation, one that will have to be corrected — organically, as in the case of people who suffer accidents due to the poor condition of the streets and sidewalks — if we are to create the country we desire, need, and must have: a country of sustainable and ethical prosperity.