If you recall, last week, America's Got Talent contestant, 10-year-old mariachi singer Sebastien De La Cruz, was lucky enough to sing the National Anthem at game three of the NBA playoff games between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. You may also remember that he received a ton of backlash by racist haters who took to Twitter insulting him for being Latino and wearing a charro outfit while singing the National Anthem.
De La Cruz didn't let these haters get him down and even responded in a classy manner tweeting: "Please do not pay attention to the negative people. I am an American living the American Dream. This is part of the American life." Today he made an appearance on Univision show Despierta America and spoke to The Huffington Post explaining how the insults actually helped him get closer to his culture. And we have to say, he is the cutest thing EVER!
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If the racists who covered De La Cruz's Twitter feed with bigotry were intelligent enough to research the boy, they would have found out that he is American born and from San Antonio, Texas. He appeared on Despierta America this morning to talk about the controversy and the positive things he took from it. "I think it [did] help me, in some way, just to show my cultura. To show what Mariachi is," he said.
As far as the haters go, he says they didn't faze him and that he thinks anyone whether they're American or not can sing the National Anthem. He even made another appearance during game four of the playoffs with the support of Eva Longoria, Mayor Julian Castro, and President Barack Obama. Even though he isn't a Mexico native, De La Cruz says that being Mexican American is a big part of him.
He explained to the TV hosts: "Mexico is in my heart. I feel it. Even though I'm from San Antonio I still have a big feeling for Mexico. That's why I go for the Chivas and not for the America," adding "[I wear the charro outfit] because it shows my culture, it's a part of my life. It's a part of me, actually. When I see somebody wearing a traje and it's missing a gala [or] you see a gala hanging off, I actually think that it's kind of disrespectful to the Mariachi."
I'm glad to see that De La Cruz didn't let those haters get the best of him because that's how you let racism win. It's better to turn the other cheek and let the racists bask in their own hate rather than taint your own clean mind. I'm sure this boy is going to grow up to be a star someday and then he'll be the one to have the last laugh.
Image via Huffington Post
