This young American singer cannot be stopped.
Eleven-year-old singer Sebastien de la Cruz who brushed off a deluge of racist venom on Twitter earlier this week returned to the stage Thursday night to perform the National Anthem before the game four of the NBA finals, with a star-studded entourage cheering him on.
Introduced by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, de la Cruz belted out the nation’s song once again, drawing applause several times when his voice hit peak intensity.
De la Cruz first made headlines Tuesday night, after Twitter users lashed out at him, saying a “Mexican” shouldn’t perform the National Anthem.
But the haters didn’t rule the day. A larger flood of support for the young musician overwhelmed the racist assumption that brown people with Spanish names don’t count as American. The classy San Antonio-native shut them down, pointing out during a televised appearance and on Twitter that he’s just as American as everyone else. (Post continues below video.)
By Thursday, he was getting shoutouts from the likes of President Barack Obama and actress/political activist Eva Longoria.
Watch Sebastien de la Cruz’s awe-inspiring encore performance of the National Anthem in the video above.