During a recent performance on her “Cowboy Carter” tour, Beyoncé’s choice of attire ignited fervent debate concerning the portrayal of American history. The Houston native wore a T-shirt during a Juneteenth concert in Paris featuring images of the Buffalo Soldiers, elite Black U.S. Army units active during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The reverse side of this T-shirt displayed a detailed description, which declared, “their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.” This depiction has led to a significant backlash.
Beyoncé’s website prominently features images and videos from her performance. As she gears up for her hometown concerts this weekend, both fans and Indigenous influencers have taken to various social media platforms to voice criticism about the contentious shirt. They argue that it paints Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as adversaries of American interests, thus perpetuating an anti-Indigenous sentiment.
The Buffalo Soldiers were established after the Civil War in 1866, with the formation of six military units comprising formerly enslaved men, freemen, and Black Civil War veterans. This group was active in many conflicts, including the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II, until their disbandment in 1951. Alongside these wars, they took part in numerous battles against Indigenous communities during U.S. westward expansion, often assisting in violent campaigns and territorial acquisition.
Historians believe the name “Buffalo Soldiers” was granted by Native tribes in admiration of the soldiers’ resilience and bravery, though whether this is historical fact or legend remains debatable. Cale Carter, director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, notes the paucity of concrete evidence regarding this moniker. New efforts have been initiated by museums, including Carter’s, to present the complex historical narrative involving these soldiers and to acknowledge their role in Indigenous displacement and cultural subjugation.
Michelle Tovar, director of education at the museum, emphasizes the need for broader narratives incorporating diverse viewpoints on the Buffalo Soldiers. She notes the current socio-political environment poses challenges, especially in education, where schools, even in Texas, face pressure to sidestep honest historical discussions. The museum endeavors to act as a community hub, promoting education on these complex histories irrespective of systemic educational restrictions.
Beyoncé’s album “Act II: Cowboy Carter” deconstructs traditional American iconography, reshaping it to resonate with Black identity and culture. This approach highlights her attempt to reclaim the cowboy narrative, historically linked to whiteness. Just last year, Beyoncé made history as the first Black woman to top Billboard’s country music chart, and “Cowboy Carter” earned her the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2025. Scholars like Tad Stoermer from Johns Hopkins University note the strategic use of Buffalo Soldiers imagery as signifying Black Americans’ agency in establishing the nation.
Further analysis reveals that Beyoncé’s artistic choices reflect the reclaimed narratives of Black Americans, though they also inadvertently align with American nationalist myths. Alaina E. Roberts, a University of Pittsburgh historian, points out that the Buffalo Soldiers encapsulate a contradictory legacy—simultaneously signifying empowerment and participation in oppressive policies against Indigenous and Mexican communities.
As Beyoncé’s Houston shows approach, social media platforms see rising criticism from Native influencers who disapprove of the T-shirt’s wording, labeling it as anti-Indigenous. Influencers, like Chisom Okorafor on TikTok, underscore the impossibility of reinterpreting America’s imperialistic past as progressive, critiquing the narratives embraced in Beyoncé’s performance.
Okorafor argues that portraying Black Americans as beneficiaries of American nationalism via Western motifs sends a troubling message, implying that Black individuals could also prosper under an exclusionary national history. She asserts that such reproductions of historic patriotism encourage the exclusion of Non-Americans and foster a notion of entrenched virtue inherent to longstanding American lineage, thus marginalizing immigrants and Indigenous communities.