From r. kidwell Sent Fri, Jul 16th 1999, 22:19
> White suburban dwellers are the root of all evil, you see. > It's quite simple, really. White suburbanites are the only group massive > and presumably privileged enough to attack at random for all the > problems within America. The white suburbs have no voice of their own > and thus can be lambasted at will for all the shit that happens in this > country without fear of backlash. I presume you are a white suburbanite. As another white suburbanite, I understand that having this arguement pushed in your face repeatedly is annoying, especially since there's nothing you as an individual feel you can really do about the situation. but as a caring human being, i also know that it's of dire importance that this arguement be pushed in your face, because if left unchallenged, white america would most certainly not make any attempt to rectify the current conditions of gross inequality in our country. > If you live in a major metropolis, not only do you get to see all the > cool shows, you also get to talk down to anybody who lives anywhere > else, since the city is where 'everything happens, man.' Any > contribution to the arts by a person from outside the city can be easily > derided simply because of its geographic origin. Plus, black Americans > automatically get double quality points for everything they do since all > of us white folk spend so much time shitting on them, or at least we > used to. I'm fucking sick of it, because according to this equation > nothing I put out has any merit compared to, say, DJ Spooky. Fuck A > Bunch Of That. excuse my sarcasm, but next time i'm in the ghetto, i'll be sure to remind all the residents there that they should be THANKFUL to live in the housing projects, because they get to go to all the "cool shows" and if they somehow scrape together the money for some artistic endeavors and can take some time off of that whole "Surviving" thing they spend all day doing, they can make a record that will be recognized as more legit than your record. sorry, but these paltry "advantages" to living in the city (which are bullshit anyway... especially on this list -- has anyone ever questioned whether Cornwall is 'ghetto' enough to make AFX a legit artist?) mean NOTHING set against the reality that is living as a minority in America. i don't even think i have to go into this... anyone who's ever opened their eyes in this society knows that minorities (including that curiously large group known as females) don't have the easiest time living in a society whose tenants are built almost exclusively around a white, priveledged, male experience. > I hate this entire argument- I wish I could just forget what color every > artist I ever listened to was or what city/country/scene they came from. > The whole business can be distilled down to simple elitism and the > insatiable human desire to pigeonhole everything. if your gut instinct is to "forget" about the questions of race and equality and oppression, that is proof enough these arguements MUST be pushed. if you forgot all about race, do you think that minorities in america will just be able to move on out of the segregated ghettos they live in? get into good colleges? get decent jobs? maybe you can say "hey! i didn't push the black man down!" but the fact is that he IS down, and as a human being who cares about other human beings, you should feel some responsibility and compassion to help him back up. White America, esp white middle class America, holds a huge amount of power in this country. it is an abuse of that power to neglect that your fellow man needs your help. Apathy is just as racist as cross-burnings and lynchings. on the larger scale, the effect is the same: the supression of change. > Just listen to the music and see if you like it; the art is what belongs > under the microscope, never the artist or his intentions. Last time I > checked, the combination of politics and art was called propaganda > (socialist realism, anyone)? maybe it is, but i think when we live in a time when reactionary indoctrination is so complete and efficient thanks to technological advances in media, i'm more than glad to welcome a little propaganda from the other side that puts those same technological advances to work to motivate change for the better. -rjyan kidwell ___,">www.gl.umbc.edu/~nworth1