Re: (idm) The sociology of Trip Hop

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