Judul : Public enemy's views on racism as seen trough their

songlyrics

Nama : Rasti Setya Anggraini

CHAPTER II LITERARY REVIEW

A. Public Enemy and Hip-Hop Music

1. Hip-Hop Music in America

Hip-hop or rap is an art form and culture originated from the South Bronx,

New York around early 70s. It was a totally new and unique music genre that challenged all rules in the music industries. The music is made by cutting and mixing sounds (i.e. sampling) from other (two or more) well-made records—an action known as DJing. Thus, the DJ only needs two turntables as the musical instrument. This is cheaper and easier to do than using a full band instruments like in other music genres.

The record sources itself can be taken from various resources like rock, bebop jazz,

Israeli folk music, advertising jingles until TV news. On this unique music, people started to chant the lyrics in rapping style (i.e. the vocal expression of lyrics in sync to a rhythm beneath it). Based on this, the fans then often synonimize hip-hop with rap. The predominant mode of aesthetic evaluation of hip-hop is reality and the authority to present it. Thus, rap lyrics talk about the reflection of the daily lives of its

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creators (the black community) with topic ranging from the trivial, such as one’s new

Adidas sneakers, to the significant, like the infuriation spurred by police harassment.

As hip-hop spread in United States, each region built their own identifications. For example, the rappers in Los Angeles (such as NWA, Tupac

Shakur, Ice T, etc.) developed the gangsta rap (gangster rap) that highlighted the hard life in the ghetto along with its violence, drug, gang, and misogynistic attitude.

Meantime, New York rappers were more political. There were many conscious hip- hop artists like KRS-One, Public Enemy, Paris, and female rapper MC Nikki that forwarded social and political criticism of the Black urban experiences. Their topic was not merely discuss on racism, but had expanded to anti-war songs, anti-drug songs, women’s right songs, and so on. Either way, hip-hop music was essential in bring to vivid the plight of black youth and its communities to the world.

Storey has said in his book that “our musical choices contribute to our sense of self” (1996 : 93). Accordingly, these days, a youth’s musical preference has played a significant role in determining its acceptance among its society. It has become a way of being in the world. The youngs judge and are judged by others based on their music consumption. Thus, hip-hop music also becomes a tool of actualization for the young Black people in the hood. Hip-hop’s popularity and its ability to provide a space of self-expression that measures the pulse of the youth culture are some its main reasons. Moreover, hip-hop has developed into a way of life affecting the speech, style of dress, and the overall disposition of its followers. For the youths, having the ability of rapping is a privileged that give them higher credit among their friends. Ultimately, through hip-hop, young Blacks have an opportunity to define themselves based on their own terms in a positive way. “Davey D” Cook (a hip-hop 14

performer, historian, and journalist) has interesting perspective related to this matter :

“Hip-hop has became one of the main contributing factors that helped curtail gang violence due to the fact that many adults found it preferable to channel their anger and aggressions into these art forms which eventually became the ultimate expression of one’s self” (Cook in Blake, 2003). This suggests that hip-hop has a redemptive power, because through this music the young people can use their energies to express their feeling, defines their realities and hope, and vent their frustration and fears in a nonviolent manner.

The launch of “Yo! MTV Raps” program in 1989 functioned as the first national broadcast forum for rap music and was credited for moving hip-hop from the exclusive Black to mainstream audiences. Immediately, hip-hop attracted the young white audiences and turned them into excited fans. Black music and the image of blackness always becomes an attractive subject for whites. Hip-hop’s abrasive music and rude language fulfils those both, as David Samuels points out in his essay :

“Rap’s appeal to white rested in its evocation of an age-old image of blackness : a foreign, sexually charged, and criminal underworld against which the norms of white society are defined, and, by extension, through which they may be defied” (1992 :

355).

Beside that, the white suburbs’ routine life and boredom makes its young crave for excitement and action. Hip-hop record is an instant way to taste ‘what life is like for a black city teenager’ for those suburban white kids. It is also much safer and easier to do because they can dig all the fun and excitement without even have to go to the Black Hood. 15

“People want to consume and they want to consume easy. If you’re a suburban white kid and you want to find out what life is like for a black city teenager, you buy a record by N.W.A. It’s like going to an amusement park and getting on a roller coaster ride – records are safe, they’re controlled fear, and you always have the choice of turning it off. That’s why nobody ever takes a train up to 125th Street and gets out and starts walking around. Because then you’re not in control anymore: it’s a whole other ball game” (Hank Shocklee in Samuels, 1992 : 365). The white world has appropriated black music through the whole century and used it to make countless fortunes. Yet, the authentic black artist was often left destitute because the white listeners are often more comfortable hearing it from white performers. Nevertheless, it never bothers hip-hop because “unlike jazz and rock n roll, rap cannot hastily and prolifically appropriated and “covered” by white artist.

For the black urbanity of the form seems to demand not only a style most readily accessible to black urban youngsters, but also a representational black urban authenticity of performance” (Baker in Sartwell, 1998). Thus, black artist is one of the essential factors in presenting the authentic feeling in hip-hop. Even the white audience more prefers listening to black rapper than white rapper. It is the first time, a black artist can match the popularity of the music.

In the market, there are hip-hop as entertainment and hip-hop as social message. The second type was mainly popular during the late 80s (which is known as the “Golden Era” of hip-hop), where many rappers dealt head-on with issues such as the upward mobility, national politics, and race relations. However, as hip-hop became popular, its primary concerns have changed. Hip-hop is incorporated into a big business with mainstream (meaning white) audiences and commercial sales.

Likewise, the rappers (mostly the new comers) become more profit-oriented in making their music. Nowadays, the mainstream prefers the entertainment hip-hop 16

(such as gangsta rap) that provides more action and excitement, and is easier to digest. Consequently, new generation of rappers often choose to go with the market preference, which gives more profits.

Such condition, for some fans and senior rappers, suggests the degrading values of hip-hop. Chuck D of Public Enemy is among those that strongly criticize this later development of hip-hop : “The difference is, in the first 10-12 years of rap recordings, rappers rapped for the people and they rapped against the elite establishment. In the last 10 or so years, rappers rap for their companies and their contracts, and they’re PART of the establishment now” (A To The L, 2003).

However, there are some rappers that still produce conscious and political rap records. This makes the rappers split into two sides. One side is the artists that are

“basically satisfied with the way things are and see no relationship between their art and the social condition that created their art” (Blake, 2003). For instance, a gangsta rap that furiously express black’s anger to the authority and might sound resistant may actually be a standard work with broad appeal. The other side is the rappers that understand the power of words to build and heal, and use hip-hop as a means to provide social commentary and social activism. Unfortunately, those that choose to be more progressive and socially aware remain to be the minority and usually do not sell as many albums as their nonpolitical counterparts.

Outside of its internal problems and rappers rivalry, the music communities eventually acknowledge hip-hop’s existence as quality music. Its legalization was marked with the inclusion of rap category in 1989’s Grammy Award. At the time, rapper Fresh Prince (Will Smith) won the award. Musically, hip-hop has diversified into many styles, fusing with various other genres. Since the 80s, there were already 17

some diversifications of hip-hop: like the Chicago’s hip-house, Los Angeles’ electro clash, Miami’s bass, and Detroit’s ghettotech. Meantime, late 90s to early 2000s was crowded with the coming of new fusion of hip-hop. For instance, there were rapcore

(a fusion of hip-hop and heavy metal) with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park among its popular bands, nu-soul (a mix between hip-hop and soul music), and pop-hip hop with Eminem as one of the artists. Its ability to easily collaborate with other genres has made hip-hop an essential element of nearly all popular music today.

2. Public Enemy’s Life and Career

Public Enemy was the most influential and controversial hip-hop group of the late ‘80s and, for many, the definitive hip-hop group of all time. In their hands, the lines between politic and music blurred, Public Enemy always has something to say, yet without leaving their music behind. Their lyrics were frequently political, often concentrating on black power and black pride and taking a militant stand on many issues. They also rhymed about all kinds of social problems, particularly those plaguing the black community. Famed filmmaker Spike Lee has even gone so far as to call Public Enemy “one of the most politically and socially conscious artists of any generation” (Bruno, 2004).

Public Enemy was formed not in the inner-city streets, but in suburban Long

Island towns in which the group’s members grew up. They are the children of black middle-class professionals and students of a good university in Long Island, but their songs gave voice to the feeling that, despite progress toward equality, did not quite belong to white America. They complained of unequal treatment by the police, of never quite overcoming the color of their skin : “We were suburban college kids 18

doing what we supposed to do, but we were always made to feel like something else,” explains Stephney, the group’s executive producer (in Samuels, 1992 : 357).

The crew’s origin can be traced to 1982 and Adelphi University, Long Island,

New York. There, radio DJ Chuck D met Hank Shocklee, when he came as a guest on the college radio station WBAU. Both sharing the same love of hip-hop and politic agreed to form a hip-hop group “Spectrum” (or Spectrum City) together with Hank’s brother Keith. Eventually, the line-up was increased with Bill Stephney—another employee in WBAU—and William Drayton or MC DJ Flavor—local rapper who became co-host in Chuck D’s radio show.

Around 1984, they mixed their own hip-hop tapes and made a song called

“Public Enemy No. 1” to promote WBAU and to fend off a local rapper who wanted to battle Chuck. Rick Rubin (of Def Jam Records) impressed with the tape and immediately invited Chuck D to join with his up-and-coming label. When Rubin met the group for an album deal, they had already prepared four songs. Two of these songs already contained the words “Public Enemy”, so Hank Shocklee suggested calling the group Public Enemy instead of Spectrum City.

In 1986, they had signed to Def Jam Records, and reformed the group’s line- up for musical and visual purposes. Chuck D compiled the crews with Terminator X as the main DJ, and fellow Nation of Islam (NOI) member Professor Griff as the head of Security of The First World (S1W) : the back-up dancers and the security force section. Drayton signed in as the second rapper (changed his alias into Flavor Flav), while Hank Shocklee became the chief producer and Stephney as a publicist.

At the time, hip-hop music was still underdeveloped. A lot of people did rap music because it was a thing to do with no expectations. Public Enemy changed the 19

face of hip-hop when they broke into the scene, expanding hip-hop past party music.

In an era where rappers were furiously inventing new ways to boast about themselves, Chuck D and Public Enemy flaunted socially important lyrics. Relating to this matter, Chuck D firmly defines his opinion in his book, Fight The Power :

Rap, Race, and Reality (1997) : “I didn’t want to rap about ‘I’m this or I’m that’ all the time …. My focus was not on boasting about myself or battling brothers on the microphone. I wanted to rap about battling institution, and bringing the condition of

Black people worldwide to a respectable level” (in Saunier, 1998). And Public Enemy has proved their words since their debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987).

However, before we continue on their next career passage, let us see the crew’s background lives first to understand more about this group.

As the leader and main lyricist of the group, Chuck D is literally the core and the brain of Public Enemy. He is one of the most colossal figures and respected intellectual in the hip-hop’s history, which redefined hip-hop as music with a message. Chuck D was born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour in Roosevelt, Long Island on August 1, 1960. His parents were both political activists, and he was a highly intelligent student—turning down an architecture scholarship to study graphic design at Long Island’s Adelphi University. Meantime, his hometown, Roosevelt, is a Black- dominant suburban town with a close-knit community, as Chuck D once described in his interview :

“Roosevelt on Long Island was a real, real tight-knit community ‘cause you had a lot of older people and parents looking out for younger folks …. In the span of two years or three years, by ’72, it was like 96 percent Black there. One-square-mile town …. All the White folks moved on out. Jetted out …. And I was kind of awestruck by the sense of community” (Saunier, 1998). 20

In addition to Chuck D and the rest of Public Enemy, Roosevelt also spawned many famous black celebrities : such as Eddie Murphy, Aaron Hall, and Dr. J (an NBA player). Dr. J, in particular, was among the few sport heroes that really giving back to his community, and thus had powerful effect on everyone (especially the youths) in

Roosevelt. For Chuck D, personally, Dr. J was the one who had inspired him to be a respectable character in whatever business he will be in. People’s communities shape who they are, and growing up in all Black community had taught Chuck D to take great pride in his people.

Thus, it concerns Chuck D very much that many blacks were feeling uncomfortable and not confident with themselves as black people. Racism and white supremacy has enslaved black people’s minds to believe that they actually were inferior to white people. This, eventually, led to the low of self-awareness and self- conscious, which made blacks vulnerable from being exploited and victimized by the materialistic values and cultural tradition of the white world. Seeing this alarming condition, Chuck D firmly stated that “Public Enemy is at war. Black people should be at war to regain their enslaved minds. It’s the war to regain awareness” (available at http://www.thuglifearmy.com/news/?id=344). Accordingly, Chuck D believes the necessity of black pride and proper knowledge on the truth about black’s history to win the war.

Being a great admirer of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., Chuck D adopted many of their thoughts and ideas along with the Black Power concept to initiate Public Enemy’s encouragement of black pride and the need of education. The

Black Power itself is one of the foundations of Chuck D and Public Enemy’s political thought. It was a movement in the middle of 1960s, which main-point was the 21

necessity for black people to define their own destiny on their own terms. In the process, it encouraged black to recognize and be proud to their own history, culture, and virtues in themselves as black people.

Presently, Chuck D keeps on busy with the effort in bringing advancement for black community. He co-hosts Unfiltered—a program that revitalizes black political commentary—on Air America Radio, regularly provides commentary on the Fox

News Channel, involves in many social and political events : like the 2004 Rap

Political Convention and the Stop The Violence 2 movement, and yet still actives playing music with Public Enemy and a new funk/rock band named Confrontation

Camp. Meantime, his academic career as an in-demand speaker on the college lecture-circuit (along with other rappers like KRS-One, Ice Cube and Paris) remains to continue also in which he teaches topics like : the value of education, the state of modern rap music and the dumbing down of American society.

Public Enemy’s second rapper William Drayton or Flavor Flav (born March

16, 1959) was actually raised as a trained classical pianist by his mother. Beside piano, he can also play 17 other instruments : like drum, guitar, bass, etc. On stage,

Flavor formed his own style of rapping that differed from Chuck D. If Chuck rapped on all the serious stuff, than Flavor threw out all the silly thing, brings colors to the group’s grim look. He even went on building a comic performance : with gold teeth, clownish sunglasses, and oversized clock hanging from his neck. Nevertheless, it does not mean that Flavor does not have any political awareness at all. In fact, some of Public Enemy most direct political lyrics come from Flavor’s hand—for example,

A Letter to The New York Post that denounces the (white) media’s bias attitude in 22

publishing the news, and 41:19 that openly condemns New York police officers’ brutality.

Like the rest of Public Enemy, Flavor Flav too was influenced by the Black

Power. For him, the black pride suggests that Black people should love themselves as who they are, because sometimes just feeling good about yourself is important in determining who you are. Most importantly, his opinion is not just a word, he has done it himself : “It doesn’t matter if they accepted me or not. All that really matters is that I accepted me. At the end of the night when I lie down, I’m the one that has to deal with all Flavors ****. No one else has to love Flavor, except Flavor. You know what I mean?” (Skillz, available at http://p076.ezboard.com/fpoliticalpalacefrm34. showMessage?topicID=1190).

During Public Enemy’s success, Flavor drew himself into a serious drug addiction (most notably crack). Drug also changed Flavor into violent person and caught him in numerous problems with the law. In 1994, Flavor was arrested for attempted murder in shooting incident, and the next year, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail. His license was suspended at least 43 times. After several ups and downs on his struggle to wean himself of drug, Flavor proudly announced his clean state in

2004. The latest sensation from Flavor was starring VH1’s reality shows : The

Surreal Life in 2004 and Strange Love in 2005—which exposed his strange love relationship with Brigitte Nielson.

Terminator X was the strong, towering, and silent figure, in the background of the group. His real name was Norman Lee Rogers (born on August 25, 1966). As the main DJ of the group, Terminator never talked much over Public Enemy’s political orientation nor on the controversy surrounding the group. The expression that 23

“Terminator X speaks with his hand” referred not only to his silent, but also to his accomplishment in DJing. He (along with Eric B of Eric B and Rakim) pioneered new techniques in sampling that resulted in dense, multi layered sonic collages.

Previously known as DJ Mellow D, he altered his pseudonym at Chuck D’s suggestion. The new name ‘Terminator X’ meant “he’s terminating all the thing we believe, that we really don’t know about”. Following his early retirement from the group, a little shuffle occurred where DJ Lord replaced his position as Public

Enemy’s main DJ.

Last but not least is the controversial Professor Griff. Born under the name

Richard Griffin (August 1, 1960), Griff was brought up in Long Island along with his

13 brothers and sisters. Although himself partly Native American, Griff has embraced a radical kind of Afro centrism. Possibly, that was because of the influence from

Nation of Islam (NOI) where he is a member. Being a martial art expert, Griff was recruited (by Chuck D) as the leader of Security of The First World (S1W). It was

Public Enemy’s back up dancer, which also responsible as the group’s bodyguard or security section. The name “Security of The First World” implies that Black people are not inherently Third World people as they were the first people to inhabit earth.

Griff involvement in Public Enemy was short. He left the group in June 1989, after causing the greatest controversy in Public Enemy’s history. As member of NOI,

Griff considered Jewish people as enemy, and he often made anti-semitic remarks on stage. However, his comment on the Washington Post that “Jews was responsible for the majority of wickedness goes on across the globe” was greeted with shock and outraged by the white society. To calm the condition, Chuck D had no other option than kicked Griff out of the group. His empty position was subsequently replaced by 24

James Norman, then part-time member Sista Souljah. In 1998, when Chuck D regrouped Public Enemy in an attempt to come back after its vacuum period, Griff was drawn back in.

As a band, Public Enemy was quite productive. In the first 8 years of their recording career, nearly every year Public Enemy released a new album. They were :

Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987), It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

(1988), Fear of A Black Planet (1990), Apocalypse 91 … The Enemy Strikes

Black (1991), Greatest Misses (1992), and Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (1994).

The group’s first four records gained commercial success, but unfortunately the next two failed on charts. Around the mid-90s, hip-hop fans was immersed in gangsta murk, and nobody cared to hear Public Enemy’s unapologetic music. This unfriendly condition forced the group to remain in vacuum for four year, which was used by the crews to embark on their solo career. However, in 1998, Spike Lee (an old friend of

Public Enemy) invited the group to make soundtracks for his newest basketball movie. The album, He Got Game, marked Public Enemy major comeback and played more like a proper album than a soundtrack. A year later, Public Enemy made another innovation by releasing an MP3 album, There’s a Poison Going On …

(1999), a format virtually unknown at the time. It was the first full-length album by major artist to be made available over the Internet. Unfortunately this decision led to the end of 12-year partnership between Public Enemy and Def Jam Records. Their latest album, Revorverlution (2002), dissected two generations of flawed Bush presidencies (in the song Son of A Bush) and criticized the American foreign policy related to the Middle East War (in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 …Boom). Ever since, Public Enemy 25

has not yet released nor recorded another album, instead they are more focusing on having tour around United States and the world.

In making their music, Public Enemy never led the record label, Def Jam, steered their creativity. They also never compromised their idealism for profit. That can be seen from all of Public Enemy’s records that loyally raised black’s social issues of the day as the theme. Nevertheless, gaining a lot of audiences was also important for Public Enemy, because they wanted to spread the messages as broad as possible. Accordingly, they attracted the young fans by creating a new, unique, and innovative sound that even beyond the expectation of a savvy hip-hop audience. The group sampled a variety of sources to create “the most formidable wall of sound ever heard in rap” (Cobber-Lake, 2004). To spark their political thought, Public Enemy created the context it needed through costumes, lyrics, and sampling (the sounds). For example, the member and entourage of Public Enemy dressed like Black Panther on stage, and the group’s lyrics turn on a reprise of 1960s black power and Afro centrism. This was something that the artists of that time had never done before.

Besides, by creating a politically charged atmosphere, Public Enemy enabled their audiences’ ability to hear and respond to their provocative lyrics and political messages. All of this innovation that made Public Enemy blazed through popularity and became one of the few popular conscious rappers.

Another proof for Public Enemy’s independency is their decision to leave Def

Jam Records over the label’s refusal to allow the group distributed their music via free Internet downloads. As mention earlier, profit was not the main issue for Public

Enemy. Their music was a medium to educate the black community, thus what really matter was how to spread the word and the message (not making profit). By leaving 26

the label and going independent, Public Enemy therefore has full autonomy to create and use their music to pursue their goal.

The years afterward, Internet became Public Enemy’s biggest interest. They considered it as an ideal way to spread the awareness and forwardness to the mass.

The Internet, unlike TV and music, allows the audience to get involved, and therefore can really start the discussion on what Public Enemy is actually putting up to. To accomplish this, Public Enemy launched several websites—bringthenoise.com the hip-hop Internet radio, slamjamz.com the online record label, publicenemy.com the board for Public Enemy’s latest news and comments, and rapstation.com the ultimate destination for online hip-hop. Until today, Chuck D and the other crews are still active communicating online with Public Enemy’s fans. In addition, it is also a good bridge between Public Enemy and the younger audience, because today’s youth that has not (or yet) been a teenager during Public Enemy’s glory years can also dig the knowledge and listen to their music through these websites.

The fans for Public Enemy were not just a target audience. More than that, they were the people that Public Enemy represented to and wanted to share with. In one of the interviews, Chuck D once said that Public Enemy’s goal is “to always speak for the culture respectfully, to always speak for the forwardness of black people, for those who don’t have a voice” (Liu, available at http://p076.ezboard.com/ fpoliticalpalacefrm34.showPrevMessage?topicID=1230.topic). From this it can be seen that the group has positioned itself as a black man representing his culture and community, especially the people that do not have the ability to defend themselves : speaking on their anger, their woes and pain, and their hope to come. Public Enemy’s art works was also appreciated for the experiences and situations presented in the 27

lyrics brought closeness feeling to its audiences. In addition, Public Enemy also shared their knowledge to black community and encouraged them to actively taking part in their own advancement. Even so, Public Enemy took no hesitation to criticize other black brothers and sisters if they have chose the wrong way or performed attitudes that could hold black’s progress (such as the violence tendency among black males, and black girls’ materialistic attitude), in the hope that they will realize and learn from that mistakes to be a better person. This was what differ Public Enemy with other rappers that mostly just blamed other people or the government for the woes of the black community, but did not feel the need to find a way for improvement.

Perhaps, this is the reason why the old fans of Public Enemy remain loyal in listening to the group’s music; besides the fact that those people (30 year old and over) are more about listening to artists who tie into their increasing variety and selection of music. The young audiences, in contrast, have a tendency to check out on old stuff to get different feeling and experience than the recent trend. Thus, although

Public Enemy not yet releases another album nor recaptures the popularity and vitality of their glory years, their tours and live performances are still full with audiences (both the older and the curiously young). Indeed, many of these young people are, eventually, really interested to the theme and issues discussed in Public

Enemy’s lyrics, especially because some of the criticism and messages are still relevant today.

As hip-hop legend, Public Enemy has seen all, felt all, and been going through all. They go in and out of fashion, fall out of critical favor, have comeback and slump, but even at their worst, Public Enemy have flashes where their brilliance 28

shines through as truly great artist do. Being survived the test of time and continued to innovate, Public Enemy gives hope that the fans will still get more of their conscious lyrics and great music, gave the understanding to the youth, educate them to a better person.

B. Social Condition of Blacks (1980s to early 1990s)

During the eighties, Blacks condition had advanced much further in education, economic, and politic as the result of Civil Rights. Unfortunately, many

Whites had not ready to tolerate this fast improvement. Resentment toward Blacks remained, even worsened with economic interest intervening. The race relations between Blacks and Whites were intense with the occurring changing attitude. Whites no longer showed their racism attitude openly to avoid being called ‘racist’, but at the same time they were still unable to accept Blacks in the same position with them and do whatever they can to prevent it.

Civil Rights gave great impact to black education. Black teens who began to school in the 80s showed a dramatic rise in their test scores and had steady fall in dropout rate. Desegregation and other changes (such as antipoverty programs and the growth of affirmation action programs) appeared to be an important part in explaining the improvement in black students’ performance. Accordingly, black men and women completed high school and received Bachelor degree were significantly increased.

The statistic in African Americans article reported that in 1940, only 11 percent of black men and 14 percent of black women had completed high school, while those 29

completed college were less than 2 percent. By 1980, black high school graduates were 76 percent for women and 74 percent for men; with 38 percent (1983) graduates went directly on to college (Walker, 1999 : 42).

Nevertheless, school integration never really accomplished in US. In the past few decades, the attention has shifted to school segregation resulted from Blacks and

Whites living in separate neighborhoods. Whites’ concerned for the lowering of educational standards in the face of federal policies calling for school desegregation encouraged the increase of ‘white flight’ to the suburbs, and accordingly established school assignment based on residence boundaries. School district may follow neighborhood boundaries and defines a neighborhood school so that it minimizes contact between black and white children (Eshlemen et. al, 1993 : 237). Thus until today, the vast majority of black children in many cities in US attend school that are predominantly black.

Relatedly, Blacks faced segregation in residential areas. Ethnic enclaves such as Little Italies, black ghetto, Chinatown, and Hispanic barrios exist partly because they were pushed to live in homogenous areas (the race based area) and partly because there were some people who chose to stay close with their families and friends. But the most significant division is between Whites in the suburbs and Blacks and other minorities in the inner-cities, which is based not only on race but also on economic ability. Some black middle class seeking for better life and education for their children had moved to suburbs as well. However, many of its white residents chose to remove when their black neighbors started to increase. Some previously white suburbs, particularly those bordering to cities with large black population, had became almost 100 percent black. 30

In the institutional level, segregation can be attributed to discriminatory practices and policies of the federal housing agencies and of mortgages-lending institution. The suburbanization process was underwritten heavily by the federal government which insured most Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages.

The FHA had a policy that did not allow the federal government to underwrite mortgages or insure mortgages in heterogeneous areas (Kinder, 1994). So in a word, it underwrote segregated suburbanization in US.

On the other hand, the released of equal employment opportunity policies allowed blacks to be accepted in many employment areas, and even made them blamed for taking jobs from Whites and their seats in professional and graduate school. Statistic, however, has showed the otherwise. The occupational proportion of

Blacks has never approximated their percentage in the population. In White Racism,

Joe R. Feagin and Hernan Vera state, “More than half of the black respondents in a

1989 ABC News survey agreed that black workers generally faced discrimination when seeking skilled jobs; 6 percent gave a similar reply regarding managerial jobs”

(1995 : 6). Andrew Hacker stated the effects of unemployment as follows :

Unemployment robs people not only of income but also of self-respect and personal and family happiness. Since the 1940s the black unemployment rate has consistently been about twice the white unemployment rate, in recent recession black workers have lost jobs at twice the rate of white workers (1992 : 12).

This statement showed that the recession in the early part of the 1980s and 1990s decades had worsened black unemployment rate. Again, Blacks were faced to discrimination practices during those periods, in which black men experienced a higher risk of being fired (approximately 19 percent higher) than that of white men.

Although Whites and other minorities lost and found jobs too, Blacks were the only 31

group to lose more positions than they gained, with longer joblessness period also.

One of the potential reasons for this job displacement was the average educational attainment. Blacks tends to have fewer years of completed education, on average, than whites, and less-educated workers tends to have higher and more cyclical unemployment rate than more-educated workers do (Zavodny, 2000). Another reason was the “last hired, first fired” policy that many employers followed. Throughout most of American history, Blacks have always been the last to be hired, and therefore most likely the first to be fired.

Toward economic aspects, black annual earnings amounted to $ 13,218 in

1984 from only $ 6,655 in 1949. While, black median family income rose to $ 21,423

(1990). By comparison, white annual earnings was $ 20,457 (1984) with median family income $ 39,353 (1990). Even the annual salaries of bachelor degreed Blacks remained well-bellow that of Whites with the same qualifications. In short, economic equality has not been achieved.

Blacks’ opportunity in political arena was much better, if not their best achievement in 1980s. In 1941, there were only 33 elected black officials. But as the

Civil Rights movement came, a significant increase in Blacks political participation occurred with 4,890 blacks elected in 1980; and by 1985, the number reached to

6,016 elected officials of whom 3,801 were from the South. Those were including members of Congress, state representatives, state senators, county officials, black mayors, city council members, and school board officials. Black Lawmakers are more likely to introduce legislation focusing on black and women’s interest, education, and welfare policy than their white counterparts. Regrettably, they were less successful in 32

passing legislation than whites. It was often enough to simply identify a bill as a

“nigger bill” to ensure defeat in the state legislature.

Besides being denied equal access to schools and housing, and equal wages,

Blacks were routinely denied equal protection under the law. A famous example on this is the beating of Rodney King (in March 1991) by the police enforcements after his car was stopped in the highways, both of which (the beating and the car stopped) were done not based on strong reasons. The relationship between Blacks and the police keep getting worse each time, especially with the existence of institutional racism within the United States Criminal Justice System. Overwhelming data establish the strikingly disproportionate number of Blacks who have been stopped by the police, arrested, convicted, and sentenced for crime (Human Rights Watch, 1999).

The eighties’ “though on crime” agenda and the “war on drug” policy were particularly responsible for the massive incarcerated of Black youths during the time.

Eventhough illegal drug usage and selling are roughly evenly distributed across race and ethnic group in the United State, close to 90 percent those jailed for drug offences are Blacks and Latino. Law enforcement strategies mainly have targeted street-level drug dealers and users from the inner-cities, simply because it is easier to arrest in these neighborhood than, for example, in suburban neighborhood with mostly white population. Similar case happened to other criminal categories like “participate in fights, breaking and entering, carrying and using weapon, or stealing something worth less than $ 50”, although whites and Blacks shared comparable rates, the arrest rate for Black youth was often double that of whites in every category.

Poverty, violence, unemployment, the dumping drugs in the ghetto, and substandard education, compounded with racism, were taking toll to Blacks’ life. 33

Being locked up in such societal conditions, they desperately needed a way to express themselves. As an ethnic group that have deep root of musical heritage, Blacks always turned to music to express their anger, suffer, and hope. During the 1980s that particular music was hip-hop. The emerging of black youth’s rap music and hip-hop culture signaled that all was not well in America, breaking the sensation of every

(black) individual success made by the media. Their music was poetically profane in denouncing police brutality and the devastating effect of drugs on ghetto life. It was full with rude street language and noisy sounds. ‘Cause for these youths, creating a gritty and offensive music was the only method appropriate for describing a gritty and offensive existence (Jonas, 2004).

C. New Racism in United States

Inspite of the progress that has been made in the United States since the Civil

Rights Movements toward achieving racial justice, racism remains the single most destructive force in American society. Social problems such as poverty, unemployment, deteriorating educational opportunities, crimes, and violence are all elevated by the persistence of racism in American society.

According the The New Encyclopædia Britannica, racism is the theory or idea that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of personality, intellect, or culture and, combined with it, the notion that some races are inherently superior to others (1994 : 880).

In America this racism concept is used to legalize attitude that motivate negative actions toward Blacks and other minorities. It is a social attitude of Whites 34

to subordinate Blacks and the color people; putting them as the second-class citizens that does not deserves the same dignity, opportunities, freedom, and rewards, as that of Whites. The use of racism based direct force and political subjugation helped

Whites maintain unconditional authority over the minorities and elevated white power and privilege. Just as Carmichael states in Black Power :

By “racism” we mean the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a racial group and maintaining control over the group (1967 : 3).

United States has made a century-old system of racism intentionally designed to exclude the color minorities from full participation in economic, politic, and society. And in doing so, it has been manifested into so many different types and forms. Concerning racism and some of its basic forms, Stokely Carmichael and co- author Charles V. Hamilton made the following observation :

Racism is both overt and covert. It takes two, closely related form; individual Whites acting against individual Blacks, and act by the total of White community against the Black community. We call these individual racism and institutional racism (1967 : 4).

Overt racism is more familiar for most people since it is easily detectable and takes the form of direct behavioral or verbal racially discriminatory acts (available at http://www.uc.edu/psc/sh/SH_Racism.htm). It expresses freedom of racial thought and speech, hence allowed in American society because of the First Amendment.

Unfortunately, it may promote violence in its actions. Individual racist originates in the racist belief of a single person, and its overt acts may cause death, injury, or the violent destruction of property. Examples of overt individual racism are ranged from the light ones : like calling a black man a “Nigger” and looking at him with debase, or bullying black children because of their skin color, to the extremes : such as the 35

bombings of black church by white terrorist that may cause casualties, or like the happening in Jasper, Texas (in 1999) where a black man (James Byrd, Jr.) was dragged by the back of a pickup truck to death.

Meantime, institutional racism occurs when racist ideas and practices are embodied in the folkways, mores, or legal structures of various institutions

(Eshlemen, 1993 : 230). Institutional racism is less obvious and it is less apparent where it is emanating from (and it is emanating from everywhere). “Institutions have great power to reward and penalize. They reward by providing career opportunities for some people and foreclosing them for others. The reward as well by the way social goods and services are distributed—by deciding who receives training and a skills, medical care, formal education, political influence, moral support, productive employment, fair treatment by the law, decent housing, and the promise of a secure future for self and children, which can lead to self respect and self confidence”

(Kinder, 1994). Thus, the legalization of racial segregation (in school, housing pattern, busing, etc.) that denied equal opportunities for Blacks for years was one of the clear examples of overt institutional racism in US. Fortunately, overt racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable.

Today, that ‘blatant’ racism has been replaced by other, somewhat more subtle form. This new racism was covert racism. It is a kind of racism that has the new strength precisely because it does not appear to be racism. It expresses the idea of racism in disguised form, hence more easily hidden and denied; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he is a racist. Enrlich (as quoted in

Racism Today) has argued, “Racism, it is asserted, is no longer blatant : people 36

nowadays are reluctant to express openly their dislike of and contempt for minorities, indeed are not prepared to express publicly a sentiment that could be interpreted as racism. Racism, it is said, is subtle : it is disguised, kept out of sight” (2005, available at http://www.123student.com/4514.htm).

Concerning on what such racism like, Swim and her colleagues (Swim et al.

1995 in Baron, 1997) have gathered data indicating that this new variety of racism focuses on three major components :

1. denial that there is continuing discrimination against minorities

2. antagonism to the demands of minorities for equal treatment

3. resentment about special favors for minority groups (pp. 198-199).

The first component implies that many whites today believe that discrimination against minorities (especially Blacks) is no longer a problem in the

United States. Civil Rights, affirmative actions, and other government policies meant to help minorities have allowed Blacks to advance greatly and to move into many formerly forbidden areas of the US society (such as the historically white public facilities, workplaces, businesses, churches, schools, and neighborhoods). Therefore,

Whites believe that equality has been achieved and that racism is not an issue anymore. For that reason, they start to consider that Blacks and other minorities are getting too demanding in their push for equal rights, as shown in the second component.

The last component that of resentment about special favors for minority groups occurs over the initiate of government programs intended to help Blacks and other minorities to remedy past discrimination (such as antipoverty programs and affirmative action programs). However, many whites view this special treatment of 37

minorities for past discrimination as discrimination toward themselves. They also think that the government and news media have shown more respect to Blacks than they deserve.

The individual racism and institutional racism are as well taking this more subtle form of racism. Such attitudes like avoiding minorities on the street, or an employer who decides not to hire a black applicant because of the belief that white workers and customers might uncomfortable with people like them, but tells the person that there are no more openings available, are some examples of covert individual racism. “Since it is no longer politically correct to openly express one’s racist views, people therefore favor disguised, indirect ways to express their bigotry”

(Piazza as quoted in Racism Today, 2005, available at http://www.123student.com/4514.htm).

Whereas, it is the covertness of the institutional racism that is so dangerous.

Because to detect institutional racism, especially when it is unintentional or when it is disguised, is a very difficult task. Even when institutional racism is detected, it is seldom clear who is at fault. We cannot easily say who is responsible for housing segregation, for poor education in inner-cities schools, for extraordinarily high unemployment among black men, for racial stereotypes in history text books, and for the concentration power in white society. Institutional racism may not necessarily involve intent because it may be submerged in the history, structure, and function of the institution.

This new kind of racism is also used by the most extreme organization in this field : the racist groups. “Many people, especially those associated with racist groups, find it necessary to put down other ethnic groups in an attempt to strengthen their 38

own” (Bender as quoted in Racism Today, 2005, available at http://www.123student.com/4514.htm). This mode of thought and reasoning usually results in extreme hatred of other races and an overall sense of bigotry. All of these racist groups (such as Ku Klux Klan, Invincible Empire, The Order, National

Alliance, etc.) are given the freedom to express their ideas of racism because of the

First Amendment; nonetheless, many find it necessary to use violence to promote their cause. Yet, racist groups now make extensive use of covert racism to extend their message of racism throughout American society. Piazza has argued for the reasoning of this use, “Covert racism is a form of civil disobedience for racists to spread ideas of racism throughout our society…. This form of racism has proven quite effective, in the past ten years, at persuading others to adopt racist ideas” (as quoted in Racism Today, 2005, available at http://www.123student.com/4514.htm).

Basically, racism is the combination of racial prejudice and discrimination.

Racial prejudice consists of negative attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes—which is inflexible and resistant to change despite contradictory evidence—toward someone merely because of his racial group membership. Usually, it is used to justify discrimination against those who are the object of prejudice. Meanwhile, stereotype is suggesting that all members of these groups demonstrate certain characteristic and behave in certain ways (a mental shortcut for understanding other or making judgments about them). Frequently, it is applied as the basis to discriminate someone.

For example, Blacks often stereotyped as lazy and unintelligent, and it could be used as a basis for hinder Blacks from highly paid executive and managerial positions.

A deep rooted media bias that anything black is bad and evil, and the overwhelming media focused on the negative aspect of black community (such as 39

crime, drug use, gang violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior) have fostered false beliefs in white American regarding the way they view and perceive Blacks. As

Feagin makes it clear that the stereotype portrayals of African-Americans and the unrealistic sanguine views of contemporary racial relations often presented in the mainstream media help perpetuate the racist myths held by ordinary white Americans

(1995 : 12). Thus, Whites tend to have prejudices that Blacks were responsible for the crime in their neighborhood, although there are no strong reasons for those prejudices. Relatedly, white people have been conditioned to believe that blaming

Black is the easiest way to escape from their mistakes, since the society will (almost certainly) support them against the convicted Black. Stephen Balkaran in Mass Media and Racism has illustrated this media bias in Susan Smith case.

Smith was the South Carolina woman who made headlines when she claimed that a black male kidnapped her two young children. It turned out that Smith herself had killed them. However, the finger pointing that her accusations set off are indicative of the media’s reflective need to blame blacks for social ills. This same reflex can also seen in the case of Charles Stuart in Boston who killed his wife and also blamed it on a black man (1999). Moreover, it is now quite common for young black males to be stopped and questioned by cops for any misfits. As the result of “though on crime” agenda, which is disproportionately aimed against Blacks, there are significant numbers of Blacks

(both youths and adults) who had and have been imprisoned. For all those ex- convicts, they may find that jobs are becoming harder to find because of their criminal status. Thus, for its bias news on Blacks (and their youths), the media have a role in crushing black youths’ prospects for future employment and advancement.

American film media has also contributed to the shaping of whites’ prejudices through the stereotypes they generate. Until recently, Blacks were rarely shown in 40

movies or television. And when they did appear, they were often cast in low-status or comic roles. Given repeated exposure to such material for years or even decades, it is not surprising that many came to believe that Blacks must be inferior. Sharing the same opinion over the matter, Dr. Marshall Hyatt states in his essay :

The history of Hollywood’s treatment and depiction of African- American is one laden with racist iconography, stereotypical characterizations, and pernicious cultural assumptions. Although its modus operandi has changed from the crudity and bigotry of America’s earliest cinematic efforts, the film industry has generally either relegated African-Americans to a subordinate position in all depiction of American life, or neglected entirely (1995 : 280). The appearing of black sport heroes (like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods,

Muhammad Ali, etc.) and black entertainers superstars (like Oprah Winfrey, Halle

Berry, Will Smith, etc.) help the black community to get admission from the white community; put them as more legitimate members of the society. Because there are many who accepted the changes (in images) in the artificial world : like television, as evidence of real world changes.

Seeing from the paragraphs above, it seems that racism will still remain in the

US history for quite a period. Eventhough, Blacks and other minorities have obtained better life today, and there are significant decrease in racist acts toward them, it does not mean that racism would go away easily. Nowadays, it has changed into covert racism, which is subtle and more hidden, yet there is still a chance that it would change into a more sophisticated form in the future. However, racism has been and will always be a never-ending struggle in the US history. Because as Tucker has said,

“Racism’s roots lie deep within the foundation of out society” (as quoted in Racism

Today, 2005, available at http://www.123student.com/4514.htm).

41

D. Semiotics

Semiotic denotes the study of signs, what they represent and signify, and how we act and think in their universe. As the continuation of Saussure’s structural linguistic, semiotic developed based on Ferdinand de Saussure’s concept about language as a system of signs. Saussure puts ‘sign’ in the context of human communication and defines it as the union of the signifier (signifiant) and the signified (signifie). The signifier is a sound image : the word (either written or oral) that we used to define something; while the signified consists of a concept or meaning assigned to any organization of signifier. Here is an example : when I write the word ‘cat’, it produces the inscription ‘cat’ (signifier), but also the concept or mental image of a cat : a four legged feline creature (signified). Together (like two sides of a sheet of paper) they make up the sign; and that is why the position of these two elements to each other is not one of equality, but one of equivalence.

Barthes’ semiology is concerned with the process of ‘signification’, the means by which meaning are produced and circulated. But then, it goes beyond by analyzing another aspect of sign, that is ‘myth’ which signifies a society. Myth, here, is not associated to its conventional term, it is a type of speech. Speech of this kind is a message, and therefore by no means confined to oral speech. It can consist of modes of writing or of representation; not only written discourse, but also photographs, cinema, reporting, sport, shows, publicity, all these can serve as a support to mythical speech. To explain myth, Barthes takes Saussure’s schema of signifier + signified = sign and adds to it a second level of signification (i.e. the second-order semiological- system). As exampled before, the signifier ‘cat’ produces the signified ‘cat’ : primary 42

signification. However, we need to realize that cat as signifier is a mere word and thus empty, while cat as a sign bear meaning (the concept of a cat) and therefore it is full. In Barthes’ theory, this sign ‘cat’ can become the new signifier ‘cat’ (=it empties itself) in the second level of signification. This, then, produces at the secondary level the new signified ‘cat’ : a woman who gossip maliciously (Collins English

Dictionary). In Elements of Semiology (1967) Barthes substitutes the more familiar terms ‘denotation’ (primary signification) and ‘connotation’ (secondary signification)

(in Storey, 1996 : 87). Thus, the focus of Barthes theory lays on the second order semiological system or metalanguage, which is patterned as follows :

1. signifier 2. signified language 3. sign MYTH I. SIGNIFIER II. SIGNIFIED III. SIGN

From the pattern, we could see that the signifier can be looked at, in myth, from two points of views : as the final term of linguistic system, or as the first term of the mythical system. Hence, Barthes gives it two names. The signifier, on the plane of language (the final term of the first system) shall be called meaning; while on the plane of myth (the first term of the second system) shall be called form. The signified will retain the name concept. The third term of myth is the correlation of those two, and it will be called the signification.

In Mythologies (Lavers (trans.), 1972), Barthes gives two simple examples of myth (before he went to discuss the complex one), one example is in sentence or language (my name is lion) and another is in picture (a young Negro in French uniform is saluting). Since researcher will discuss song lyrics in the next chapter, 43

therefore we will go for the language example. When Barthes was a pupil studying

Latin grammar, he read a sentence, borrowed from Aesop or Phaedrus : quia ego nominor leo. On the one hand, the words in it do have a simple meaning : because my name is lion. And on the other hand, the sentence is there in order to signify something else : I am a grammatical example meant to illustrate the rule about the agreement of the predicate. The signifier of the second system is formed by a sum of signs; it is in itself a first semiological system (my name is lion). A new signified (I am a grammatical example) is then attach to it and there is a global signification, which is none other than the correlation of the signifier and the signified; for neither the naming of the lion nor the grammatical example are given separately (the sentence of “my name is lion” used as a grammatical example in Latin grammar).

From the example above, there are several important points noted. The signifier of a myth presents itself in an ambiguous way : it is at the same time meaning and form, full on one side and empty at the other. The meaning is already complete, postulates a kind of knowledge, a past, a memory. When it becomes form, the meaning empties itself, it becomes impoverished, history evaporates; only the letter remains. Thus, it calls for the signification to fill it. All that drains out of the form will be absorbed by the concept. The concept reconstitutes a chain of causes and effects, motives and intentions. Through the concept, it is a whole new history which is implanted in the myth (Lavers (trans.), 1972 : 117-119). What needed to know is that a signified can have several signifier : this is the case of mythical concept (so as like in linguistics and psycho-analysis). It has at its disposal an unlimited mass of signifier : there are thousand of Latin sentences that actualize the agreement of predicate (being a grammatical example). 44

Barthes has introduced the distinction between denotation and connotation to differentiate literal representation from its hidden symbolic and ideological meaning.

The previous tri-dimensional pattern can be used to reveal the meaning of any sign, only that it would go as far as the literal meaning (what shows in the surface).

Therefore, Barthes saw the need of another chain of semiological system to deal with the connotative side (which is more complex). Barthes’ aim is to make explicit what too often remains implicit in the texts and practices of popular culture. As he stated in the ‘Preface’ of the 1957 edition of Mythologies, “I resented seeing Nature and

History confused at every turn, and I wanted to track down in the decorative display of what-goes-without-saying, the ideological abuse which, in my view, is hidden there” (in Storey, 1996 : 87).