McKee’s chapter on Spectacle and his embodied opinions about Spectacle did not have me convinced at first of its value in the Public Sphere. I started out entirely convinced that one mode of communication and rationality was obviously superior to the other—namely the modern doctrine of Western Philosophy. I was predisposed to side with the moderns completely at first for two reasons.
Firstly, I found it preposterous that rap music could be politically worthwhile, until I realized that the only rap music I have ever encountered has been what McKee defines as Gansta Rap: “Gangsta rap concerns many Black writers for its ‘impulses toward misogyny, homophobia [and] corporate greed… But many rap artists are explicitly political in their work” (McKee 132). I had up to this point considered any form of rap or R&B to be of the caliber of “Gangsta Rap;” in other words, I saw it as demoralizing, filthy trash.
I guess I have learned something new from McKee—however, I still didn’t agree that this spectacular approach was worthwhile, for one main reason: I think that the forms of politicized rap that were given as examples are destructive and divisive, maintaining racial lines and deepening racial prejudice of Blacks toward Whites. These songs “tell stories of the American government being ‘deceitful,’ the media being ‘absurd,’ of Black ‘pride and unity’ and of ‘antagonist’ whites” (McKee133). Not that I don’t agree that WASP culture has done deeply terrible things to Blacks over the last 300 years, but at this exact point in time, I don’t think Black Americans have as much to complain about for the amount of time they spend complaining. This view that they have of this evil White government is divisive, it promotes prejudice and it feeds a vicious cycle that keeps Blacks inevitably where they don’t want to be.
Black American pride has held them back in their education—a system they define as wholly white because it is based on literate communication instead of oral. Don’t tell me that Blacks are incapable of adapting to the system, they are just arrogant and refuse to do so: “one reason for blacks’ educational failures was ‘a kind of cultural orientation which defines academic learning in school as “acting white”’ …This orientation viewed academically successful black students as turn-coats” (McKee 130). Blacks are never going to fit in if they continue to see government systems as oppressive to themselves and their culture. This pride is destructive to their development. Why should we revamp an entire system of education just so they can feel more comfortable with their cultural identity? As long as they aren’t being discriminated against (and there are many tutoring, after school programs, welfare, Medi-cal, EOP, etc. which show that Blacks obviously have many opportunities to learn and grow within the system), why should the West change?
While I agree with McKee that complete logic is a bad thing, I do not agree that spectacular forms of communication are wholly good and infallible. There needs to be an even blending of both persuasive and logical argument in the public sphere, and both sides should meet each other somewhere in the middle or else we will experience something worse than Babylon—we’ll be stuck forever in BABEL.
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I'm afraid I'll have to take issue with you. The one thing most people don't want to talk about is the issue of white privilege...I can't tell you how many horror stories I've heard where black people are pulled over simply because they're driving a nice car, or the fact that black people earn less than white people for doing the same job. A lot of (if not all) racism in this country is systemic, and while there are programs available, those same programs are being cut drastically, if not entirely, and even those who meet the eligibility requirements live under a microscope. I would suggest reading "Work-Fare or Fair Work?" by Nancy Rose, "Inequality Matters," or better yet, if you need a capstone course, take Political Economy.
We live in a pluralistic society, there's no getting around that.
Wow. This seems like a pretty self-righteous outlook on academic and economic progression in the African-American community and is undoubtedly written from the perspective of someone who's either insensitive to or completely unfamiliar with the experience of being marginalized. It seems ridiculous to have to say this, but racism and prejudice are not manifested in direct forms of discrimination, they're also institutional. That's why affirmative action laws and programs such as Equal Opportunity Employers are necessary. I think the notion that African-Americans are in a position to propel themselves economically and academically without having to shed their own culture is naive.
I'm not sure that the black paranoia and denouncement of white culture and its institutions are completely ludicrous and unreasonable when you consider that the civil rights movement was only 40 years ago, which doesn't seem like that much time at all when you hold it up next to 400+ (not 300+) years of repression and enslavement.
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