The monster of racism raised its ugly head on Twitter during game 3 of the NBA finals between Miami Heat and San Antonia Spurs on Tuesday night. Its target was Sebastien De La Cruz, an 11-year-old Mexican American boy.
De La Cruz (whose nickname is El Charro de Oro), who had appeared on "America's Got Talent" last season, was given the opportunity to sing the national anthem at the game. His performance was received with a number of racist tweets. Many of the tweets questioned why a Mexican (an "illegal alien") was being allowed to sing the national anthem.
In response, De La Cruz made an appearance on Fox San Antonio on Wednesday. "They don't know my life," said the young Mariachi singer. "My father was actually in the navy for a pretty long time, and I actually salute him today for that. I just wanna thank him and to be able to sing the national anthem. People don't know, they just assume that I'm just Mexican. But I'm not from Mexico, I'm from San Antonio, born and raised. True San Antonio Spurs fan."
He also tweeted from his handle, "Please do not pay attention to the negative people. I am an American living the American Dream. This is part of the American life." His comment was retweeted 691 times and favorited by 391.
Last year, De La Cruz made it to the quarter finals of season seven of "America's Got Talent". The judges were all praise for his voice and passion, said a report on NBC Latino. "What can I say, I mean I honestly don't know much about Mariachi music but I love what you all do," said Sharon Osborne, in one of the episodes. "You have such passion when you sing and your voice is really great." "You're a terrific kid and wise beyond your years. I love it and I love you," said Howard Stern in the same episode.
Last month, according to E! News, former lead singer of Hootie and The Blowfish, Darius Rucker, was the recipient of a racist tweet that asked him to leave the country to white folk. Rucker chose to respond to the tweet, "WOW. Is this 2013 or 1913?" He said he did it so that "the world can see them."
