Music and Racism Essay Example

song was released entitled White America, recorded by Eminem.

From the title itself, it could be inferred that there is the existence of white empowerment for the term America was associated with the term White. Americans are generally labeled as black people for their physical appearance. Black people are considered as slaves since western societies most especially the United States have this idea of white privilege wherein the rights and benefits granted are only granted to white men (Blum, 2002). A study of Fredrickson (2002) showed that to be a slave in the 17th century, a person has to be black.

Racism is all about difference and power. A song, Black, Brown and White was recorded and it implies that there were more people from the black side who experience unemployment than people from the white side (Bloch & Solomos, 2010). This is a clear manifestation of racism in songs for the issue tackled degrades the abilities of the black people. Although the effects of racism are not seen, it has its psychological effects on blacks and the racists. Music and its powerful means to spread messages to the humans have a big effect on society today.

It may affect one in a negative manner such as teaching an individual how to use foul words or it may put one into a bad mood. Although one may not know the hidden meanings behind one song influences an individual as well. One message spread through music is the idea of racism. Music not only has issues in discrimination and racism but also in religion. In an article by Lake State Publications (2002), the

transformation of music started during the early Christian era. It said that only Gregorian Chants were recognized in sacred ceremonies.

However, secular and non-religious songs became rampant when the church had an unlikely encounter with the French Nobles called troubadours causing them to write the very first secular songs and ask the ministers to sing them to the public. Secular music continued to gain importance to the masses and vocal music became more important than instrumental on the early years of the Renaissance Period. This style of music continued up to the Twentieth Century where it had a new face. Music did not only change its style but also the messages they bring. Music became an outlet or instrument to profess one’s beliefs (Duke University, 2002).

However, artists did not only profess their faith in God. It started by evoking love, then passion, then sadness, then pain and revenge, then later on, sheer brutality (Boer, 2010). Another would be the common metal music of today that conveys views that are very much Satanic. Many musicians use music as a medium to raise awareness regarding atheism (Pickham, 2002). From its sacred origin, it has turned into its total opposite. Atheism denies that any God or gods exist. This means that an ‘atheistic song’ is that which expresses the disbelief of a deity.