(…And why, for all practical purposes, Conservatism equals Racism)
It’s funny, I like saying that I’m 50. I wouldn’t have anticipated that, but it’s true. I like saying I’m 50. And the big reason is that it gives me authority. Half a century is a long time, and the reward for making it this far is perspective.
I was a child of the 70s. I went from 10 to 20 in that decade. I’ve said before that almost all of my heroes were black. Music, sports, fashion, even movies, although there weren’t all that many movies starring blacks back then. But the influence of black culture was everywhere, and there was no doubt in my mind that we were making major leaps toward unity.
Then Ronald Reagan won the presidency, ushering in an era of “conservatism”, which in reality
meant enormous rollbacks of taxes, evisceration of social services and a new emphasis on crime and punishment. All of which served to introduce a divisiveness into American society which quickly obliterated the gains of the 1970s.
One of the most perfect movies ever made was Michael Moore’s “Bowling For Columbine”, which powerfully exposed the American fetish with fear. We like being afraid; we’ve been taught to be afraid; the media has perfected the craft of selling our fear back to us.
Fear is perhaps the most primal instinct. If you make a person fear, you can count on a reaction. If you can control that fear you can control the response and use that response for your own aims.
The media sold us fear of the black menace.
The media sold us tribalism cloaked as existential threat. The media convinced white America that 12.5% of the population, with almost no political power and almost no economic power, represented a threat because of their unlimited capacity for violence.
More blacks than whites have been incarcerated since 1981, the year Reagan took office. Considering that blacks represent 1/7 of the population, that is a statistic that requires some explaining.
It’s really quite simple: Conservatism, for all practical purposes, equals racism. And when that racism is put into effect through conservative policies, more and more doors are shut in the faces of African Americans, until there is so little opportunity left that violence is not only a defensible reaction, but a natural, expected reaction. When you are backed into a corner, your instincts are to come out fighting. Survival is at stake; you do what you have to do.
And so we see that it is no coincidence that, during heights of conservative revival, we also see an increase in tensions between races and an increase in violence on both sides.
Except that those in power have the capacity to throw their opponents in jail.
We’ve never truly recovered from the rise of conservatism, although there have been periods of relative quiet, when the economy was expanding. But there is no denying that we still live in extremely tense times, that there is still a strong current of conservatism which is exerting a strong influence on social relations.
When Jay-Z tore the metaphorical roof off of the Bonnaroo festival Saturday night, he was performing in front of 75,000 almost exclusively white youth, almost all of whom had never seen him perform before. Jay-Z has done other festivals, probably some of which had similar types of crowds, but Bonnaroo is the mothership, the festival of festivals, and it speaks to his enormous reputation as a man capable of orchestrating monstrous events that the organizers sought him to headline Saturday night, which is the centerpiece of the festival.
And it matters that he was as successful as he was. It matters that 75,000 people got their asses rocked off by a black man doing hip-hop. Of course white audiences have long embraced black music.
At a time like this, however, when society is in danger of becoming so fractured that escalating violence becomes inevitable, it matters that Jay-Z rocked Bonnaroo. And it matters that he rocked Coachella. It matters that white society remembers all that it appreciates about black society, and it matters that we remember that the more we get to know each other, the more familiar we will be with each other. It matters that we teach ourselves to rise above our primal instincts and learn not to see each other as threats.
Conservatism teaches us to recognize who is and who is not in our tribe, and to fear those who are not. I don’t know if there is a catchy word for the act of breaking down those fears, but I do know that Jay-Z and others show us how to do it.
I’ve said before that if the old folks will just get out of the way, the young folks will figure this out for themselves. The problem, however, is that the media and the halls of power are not so willing to let them do that, and so we must remember our own lessons and teach those to our youth.
We can start by remembering the 1970s and all those great artists who helped bridge those gaps of understanding. We can start with the man who preceded Jay-Z to the stage Saturday night and raised the bar in a way only he could: Mr. Stevie Wonder.
It makes me think that the organizers of Bonnaroo were trying to make a point.
[MRMOKELLY.COM – COMING IN JUNE!]
16 responses to “Guest Editorial: Why It Matters That Jay-Z Rocked Bonnaroo”
Memo to Self:
Never, ever, EVER do anything that will cause me to be clowned on Mr. Mo'Kelly's blog…EVER!
Ah Brenda,
You meant to leave this comment on the newer thread.
Once just once I would like to see some fan fare like this dedicated to the educated black man or woman! These entertainers are clowns who are just lifted up because of their financial status. Many will never achieve their level of success. I wish more emphasis would be put on education and learning instead of buffoonery.
onemom,
I'm confused? Are you dismissing the power of entertainers to bridge social divides?
I think she's dismissing the misuse of power of today's entertainers. Jay-Z isn't exactly Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye. Let's be real here.
Hmm.
Nor for that matter is he Stevie Wonder.
But he is probably at the top of the heap of performers who can command a massive audience, white or black.
Not even Springsteen can make that claim.
And of course the point of my piece is that black entertainers can help bridge social gaps. I know they have done that for me. I know, from my daughter who was there, that he tore it up at Bonnaroo.
That's a big friggin' deal.
That is, if we're looking for opportunities to bridge social gaps as an alternative to all-out mayhem.
Jay-Z's performance matters like Richie Haven's performance mattered at Woodstock. Performers are generally performers, not social activists or spokespersons. But every generation has it's people who can trancend the performers role to take on a bigger role… either through words or just presence. Jay-Z's inclusion and performance at the festival doesn't make the Cornell West's of the world unnecessary, they are still the best suited to articulate issues across the Black spectrum to the White spectrum and back. But for those who found a new level of admiration for a Black man by sitting and being inspired and uplifted to an emotional high… you can't discount how the concept of planting seed of new thought, or of questioning old thought can be done by an artist. And sometimes it can have long-term, far reaching impact just like it did with Richie Havens.
I don't particularly like Jay-Z, but I can appreciate his impact as described by this post. Thanks Walt.
Thanks Dwayne, and I agree whole-heartedly.
I'd guess that one percent of white America has even heard of Dr. West. So yes, we must have our intellectual leaders (and they, too, are heroes of mine), but as you and I agree, we access those leaders, very often, through being entertained first.
I don't consider it sad or any sort of social commentary, just a plain fact: entertainers do teach, and they don't need to "teach" to do it. They just allow us in and make us feel good, and in some way, invisible barriers are broken down.
Sitting in my living room as a small child, watching Stevie Wonder and Sammy Davis, Jr. on my TV, I learned to appreciate black people on multiple levels, without ever having actually met a black person.
Somebody who might otherwise have seemed alien and fearsome to me, instead felt familiar to me, comfortable to me.
I know it doesn't work like that for everybody, but it did for me.
I too grew up in the 70's, proud to say I am 51 too Walt,lol. On my Facebook page I often post videos from ol skool artist just to remind my family and friends how music, not just black music brought a lot of ppl together. If you got to the House of Blues you are likely to see a mixture of races grooving together to some great music. While reading the blogs,news sites and the comments from readers I often come away with a sense of foreboding doom. Somer of the posts are so racially explosive. But to see your post this morning about Jay Z made my day. I remember Woodstock, I was too young to go, but I remember how Richie Havens,Santana,Joan Baez,Sly and the Family Stone bring all the people together with their music. My kids laugh at me because I know the songs from that era and can sing along. I grew up in Harlem and the Bronx, but the only radio station we could get sometimes was WABC and I woul listen to Casey Kasem play Creedence Clearwater,Janis Joplin,Osmonds,and The Jackson Five. Music calms the savage beast within us.So I say…go 'head Jay-Z with your bad self!!
southernVal,
I was a Jersey Shore clamdigger, so ABC was a staple of my childhood soundtrack as well.
Remember "InstantInstant ReplayReplay"?
Lawd, how can I forget,lol
For those who don't know what Val and I are going on about, ABC was a Top 40 station back in the day, and when a new song came out it sometimes got the "instant replay" treatment, where they would play it twice in a row. Just before the second play, a taped chorus woud chant "Instant Instant Replay Replay!" and the DJ would mouth a few words, and the song would start all over.
To a small kid, it was kinda cool. Especially if the song really was all that.
Not saying that JayZ is not importent, just wish there could be better fanfare for our educated and well established brothers and sisters. Some of that is our fault because we have socio-economical hierarchies that creates a divide within our own community. I think the coverage you did on the concert was a good one, though I do not want a rapper of Jay Z's caliber to represent or bridge a cultural divide in my behalf. Jay Z is not what I stand for at all.
onemom,
Nor is Jay-Z somebody I follow closely. Even though we probably aren't far apart in age, he does appeal to a younger demographic, primarily.
What's important is that we have icons that we can share. Notwithstanding his "open mouth, insert foot" Playboy interview, John Mayer is an artist who appeals to some black folks because of the way he approaches his craft. It no doubt comes as a shock to some blacks that a white guitarist can "feel" the blues the way Mayer does. (And no doubt, some insist that it's just not possible.) Some will grow in their appreciation of white folks because of their appreciation for this particular white dude.
It matters that we cross-pollinate, that we gather together under one artistic umbrella from time to time, and that we let ourselves just experience each others' cultures.
I can't say enough about the effect that had on me growing up, and as I look around me today and see that we really do need to come together or we will surely fall apart, it matters to me that Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z brought down the house in front of 75,000 mostly white kids from the suburbs.
It matters to me too Walt. I am going on 32 this year, so I grew up during New Edition and the downfall of black entertainers. After that point around the nineties, a lot of black entertainers were just talking nonsense and jibberish to me. I am not saying that there aren't ANY good black entertainers though-just few and far between! Please have a good weekend!
The challenge with today artist, is they don't have a social agenda. They are about making money. Don't get me wrong, I'm 50 and listen to Jay-Z, but what I don't hear in his music is how to do better. When I think about Marvin Gaye, and What's Going On, I think about whats happening around me. When I listen to Jay-Z, I don't have that same feeling. Many of our young artist are about making money. Not sending a message to help make the masses aware.