Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour stop in Paris on Juneteenth became a controversial one when the superstar wore a shirt honoring the Buffalo Soldiers. The shirt stirred backlash over its connection to a painful and complicated past involving Indigenous communities and American expansion.
Beyoncé slammed by fans over Buffalo Soldiers shirt
Beyoncé’s one fashion choice during her Cowboy Carter tour has landed her in the middle of an unexpected controversy.
The Grammy-winning artist wore a shirt featuring the phrase “Buffalo Soldiers,” a nod to the historic all-Black regiments of the U.S. military. While it was meant to celebrate a significant but often forgotten chapter of Black American history, it has instead sparked backlash from some fans and Indigenous communities.
The shirt, which Beyoncé also featured on her website, included not just imagery of the Buffalo Soldiers but an excerpt from the book The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Black Cavalry in the West.
For some fans, Beyoncé’s shirt didn’t just acknowledge the Buffalo Soldiers; it seemed to glorify their role in suppressing Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries. The backlash intensified online, with people accusing Beyoncé of romanticizing a violent era. One fan tweeted, “bey is one of my all time fav artists, i’m so upset. why is she glorifying the genocide of indigenous americans?” Another added, “Not everything in Black history needs to be revered and turned into an aesthetic.”
Some supporters argue that Beyoncé is simply shedding light on a complex, layered history. Pointing out that while the Buffalo Soldiers’ role in westward expansion is controversial, their existence also represents a painful irony. Black men, many of whom had recently been freed from slavery, were then used to fight other marginalized groups in the name of the American state. Throughout the Cowboy Carter era, Beyoncé has challenged American myths, blending country music with Black identity.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on ComingSoon.net.
