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While you were barbequing and setting off tiny explosives yesterday in the name of freedom, WWE superstar John Cena was delivering a message of hope.
In a video posted to Twitter, Cena walks down a corridor of Main Street America populated by a diverse slice of the American pie. People of different colors are hanging out, some are speaking in sign language. There’s even a Rabbi! And as Cena passes them all he explains what it means to be a true patriot, telling us, “This year, patriotism shouldn’t just be about pride of country. It should be about love; love beyond age, disability, sexuality, race, religion, or any other labels, because the second we judge anybody based on those labels, we’re not really being patriotic, are we?”
And honestly, you should watch the whole video, because it is flat out touching. Cena, who fake beats people up for a living and has forearms so big that his arms are basically large pillars that hang down the sides of his body, is so genuine and so sincere in asking us to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the American quilt it’s—well, it’s truly adorable and heartening.
A message like this coming from a guy like Cena is important, too. He’s a picture of hyper-masculinity and performs in a sport that many would probably associate with misogyny and regressive social politics. But Cena has been one of the WWE’s most vocal anti-bullying ambassadors for years, and his turn as a kind-hearted, creatine-slamming gym rat in last year’s comedyTrainwreck showed that he’s self-aware enough to poke fun at the caricature of his persona.
Cena is a man’s man. An ass-kicker. A ring warrior who frequently uses his time on air to honor our troops in the United States military. So when he takes the time to tell people it’s cool, and even patriotic, to celebrate diversity, then maybe even the Make America Great Again camp will pay attention. Maybe.
