Race in Punk Music - Coursework Example

RACE IN PUNK MUSIC By Introduction Race has to its two main aspects attached; a negative and a positive. The positivity is that race can become a tool of social construction, and on the negative one, can act as a [negative] lived experience by influencing bad or unacceptable norms and conduct. Black and white are the two dominant and most common race partitions, and which have from times in memorial being instrumental in determining major aspects of society, and inciting racial grouping thus discrimination and segregation between rival racial groupings. The music industry has not been spared in the warring exchanges and involvement of race within itself, with evidence showing discrimination and establishment of music genres with regard to race. There exists “black” and “white” music, each defined by its own unique attributes, often related to race or cultures. This discussion text will conduct a study on the role of culture as a basing factor for the establishment, manifestation, and attribution of white racism in the popular punk music subculture; thus survey the concept of race as a lived experience. The discussion will highlight the involvement of culture in defining punk, that is, where it originated from, who it was meant for, who qualifies to be a member, what punk music entails, and what it sounds like, revealing the role of racism in all these contexts. Overview of punk music Punk is a subculture under the genre of rock music that came into existence in the estimated period between nineteen seventy-five to nineteen eighty in the North of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. It was largely politicized exhibiting hostile acidities, with a general attribution of alienation and teenage rebellions. The word “punk” originated from prison slang during the nineteen seventies when pioneer punk rock bands were defining youthful angst through garage rock. The pioneer rock bands include The Seeds, Mysterians, New York Dolls, 13th Floor Elevators, and The Stooges to mention but a few, most of whom performed in New York City. By nineteen seventy-six, the subculture began spreading to other parts of the globe such as the United Kingdom, where the popular punk band, The Sex Pistols were employed as a marketing band, where they were promoting a fetish clothe shop called Sex. These periods were the climax of punk music; however around the late seventies to the early eighties, punk music subsided, only to re-emerge again in the early nineties after Nirvana’s success as a more charged punk fraternity with more energy and anger (Britannica 2014). Role of race in the emergence of punk music Punk is a subculture made up of mostly of youth with the characters of opposing government, hating authority, with extreme unique hairstyles and dressing, they have the hatred of big business, greatly oppose prejudice, and most important of all, as per this discussion- racism. According to (The Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism n.d.), youth cultures or sub-cultures such as punk emerged due to pressure that was being exerted on youth in the ancient days. The point of such emergences was to fight off the norms and values of the older generations that were considered regressive, and key amongst these was racism. However, there is more than sufficient evidence to contradict this as is seen in (The anti-Defarmation 1980). The information here gives claims of the existence of racist songs and music in the United States since ancient times, in which most of them were praised for the segregation offered by groups such as the Ku Klax Klan. Then in the nineteen seventies, the age when punk rock was born, a new phase of racist music came into existence, referred to as hate music. Coincidentally, this is about the same time when punk rock was born, and was growing viral with every band’s performance. The role of hate music in the United States and everywhere it existed is highlighted in three phases: first, it is said that hate music was a tactic by neo-Nazis to get support from young people by attracting them to be members, of which they saw music as a powerful means of influencing and recruiting them. On the second note, claims have it that this kind of music was a key income generator for white supremacists who are said to receive funding after distributing or publicizing hate music, organizing events, and selling of merchandise associated with the voice. Lastly, hate music was responsible for influencing and forming subcultures of white supremacists, which they did by providing followers with fashion, customs, ideas, and most importantly, music. So why does punk music qualify to be called hate music and how does racism depict itself in it? The anti-deformation (1980) continues that hate music was founded by one [British] artist, Ian Stuart Donaldson, whose musical roots were in punk music. Together with his punk rock bad, Skrewdriver, they transformed their music into promoting white supremacy and racism. The band went on to gain membership numbers, catalyzed by the many sub-bands that joined in the preaching, and by the onset of nineteen eight, racist punk, also defined as hatecore or racist hardcore punk had infected most of America and Europe. The preceding decade saw a virility in the spread of racism through music as young rockers established “white power music” and “rock against communism” themes. To further the spread came the introduction of internet technology through which accessing, sharing and viewing hate music was made much easier. Punk music qualified for this category in that it exhibited and preached themes directly associated with racism and the depiction of its music as whites only. The most dominant theme as seen was racism. Punk music targeted non-white immigrants and/or African-Americans. For instance, there was the popular band, Final War, who did a song titled “Repatriation” in which its lyrics pointed at the discriminated group as evil that had crept into their society, and that it was time to shut them up and put an end to their invasion. Of similar brutality was the Grinded Nig band that did the song “Splatterday, Nigger Day” whose lyrics incited whites against the people of color. The lyrics went like, “…we want to kill a nigger, they are in the city…we all attack the nigger, he has seen his last day”, (The anti-Defarmation 1980). The second dominating theme was protection of white supremacy through punk music, promoting the notion of the white family as being superior and to take caution against the black race. Punk music seemed to exhibit adherence to the racist slogan popular as the “14 words slogan” that reads, “We must secure the existence of our race and a future for white children”. This is evident in the production of music with anti-black lyrics such as Das Reich’s song “which way the white man” whose lyrics incited white men against blacks, urging them to protect the “white land.” Concisely, as with concurrence to (Duncombe & Tremblay 2011, p. 152-153), the punk fraternity considered non-whites as outsiders or enemies of the white race. Recognizing punk rockers In addition to just using lyrics to spread the anti-black themes, it has been observed that these music groups use their music as a symbol or ideology of distributing their vice. This is evident in that just like any recognized group; they advocate most of their ideas through their lifestyle apart from their music. Just like any other segregation or group, punk depicts strong, distinct features that alienate it from any other group mostly in their styles of music, film, visual art and dance, Herein stated are attributes that would qualify one as a punk group member; 1. Punks consider their dressing as a medium of communication, and incorporate various tactics of doing so. As Kearns (2010, n.p.), puts it, the punk subculture defines and applies its own intentions and very carefully thought of display codes. These codes have messages that they send out, which usually go against the grain of normal cultures, as they tend to be provocative, vulgar and offensive. In short, their fashion is a voice. Fig. 1 2. Another major identity that punks use to identify themselves is through body modifications. Their body modifications, mostly include body markings such as tattooing and writing on it or by piercing various parts of their bodies. To differentiate themselves from the normal piercing, punks pierce unusual body parts such as cheeks or noses and implement crude accessories like safety pins and custom bullring design nose rings. Fig. 2 3. Punks or punk movements use specific iconography to identify or represent some of their values. The iconographies they use include logos or emblems that have aesthetic concepts, which punks intentionally use to show what they stand for. For instance is the “X” sign that is usually in a black bold font and appears on their clothes or body markings, and signifies some commitment to the punk fraternity. The Sex Pistols’ logo is designed in a way that it incorporates graphics and fonts that make it look like a ransom note. Concisely, punks prefer graphics or icons with extreme suggestive themes such as danger or death (Hannon 2010). Fig. 3 4. Punk rock has some attributes to it that make it different from all other types of [rock] music. These include short-length songs, most of which maximize on two minutes at most, and have the verse-followed-by chorus composing structures. The songs are driven by power chords combined with instantaneous lengthy guitars. On the vocals, they employ raw nasals that are raspy, in most cases shouting above their capacities in hoarse roar. Fig. 4 To add to this and like most rock genres, punks use much drums and bass, in addition to other percussion instruments and chord progressions. They employ a Do It Yourself culture of producing their own music, usually starting from home recording and in cases when they use digital means; the editing is minimal and not complicated (Haskoor 2013). These measures ensure there is no much parity between the original production and the edited track. They have no definite dance moves, but integrate violently vigorous and random all-body movements to both band members and followers. Their hair, which is in most cases long and multi-colored is shaken violently in sync with the beats and guitar chords. In music videos, they use their subculture icons, fashion, slogans, and adorations to communicate to their members, considering the fact that they have unique signs and slogans that are only known to their members. This is a strategy to maintain secrecy while using the public mainstream to communicate to its members worldwide. Fig. 5 However, there are those who oppose the involvement or the promotion of racism by this music subculture. According to English (2013, p. 68-112), punk is indeed a subculture of a rebellious nature, but its rebellion was not against non-whites or African-Americans, rather, the rebellion was against the political systems of an ancient period when Europe and the United States were undergoing economic depression, throwing their citizens into a panic. This was the reason for the youth’s unity in rebellion against the governing systems in a bid to attract their attention. English adds that the 1970’s and 1980’s emergence of extreme nihilistic fashion that depicted street style clothing, dressing associated with poverty, was to express aggression and attract attention. It was during the era when western states and the global economy at large was skydiving, further widening the groove between the rich and the poor. The level of unemployment was very high and young people, especially the uneducated were the hardest hit. This period inspired, and continues to inspire modern punks’ way of dressing; they dress in worn, dirty, tattered clothes. It is also logical that owing to the small size malnourished people, they adopted the trend of wearing tight fitting jeans and clothes in general. Conclusion It is evident from the discussion that in spite of the punks’ rebellious nature being attributed by some people to be speared towards the ancient governments, there were [some] malicious bands and members amongst them if not all. The lyrics by themselves portray this in that they were maliciously suggestive in oppression and exclusion of non-white races in their musical context and society at large. As such, it is sufficient to conclude that indeed, the race was somehow involved in the establishment of the subculture, especially after Ian Stuart Donaldson diverted and totally turned the initial objectives of the subculture around. The text, therefore elaborates the application of race as a lived experience in that white supremacy and racists used it to portray discrimination and looking down on the non-white races. Bibliography Duncombe, S & Tremblay M 2011. White riot punk rock and the politics of race. London, Verso. English B 2013, A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries: From Catwalk to Sidewalk. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. Haskoor M 2013. “Punk Rock in the Studio: A Dynamic Subculture- The Ramones to Green Day & Senses Fail”, SonicScoop. Available at http://www.sonicscoop.com/2013/06/24/punk-rock-in-the-studio-a-dynamic-subculture-the-ramones-to-green-day-senses-fail/ [5 March 2014]. Kearns E 2010, Subcultural Power. Retrieved from http://fashionandpower.blogspot.com/2010/04/subcultural-power.html [5 March 2014]. Punk 2017, “Punk”, Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at file:///F:/web/punk%20(music)%20--%20Encyclopedia%20Britannica.htm [5 March 2014]. The Anti-Defarmation League n.d., “Neo-Nazi Hate Music”, The Anti-Defarmation League. Available at http://archive.adl.org/nr/exeres/32be45ea-7300-477d-bf3e-d01c0c56b809,db7611a2-02cd-43af-8147-649e26813571,frameless.html The Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism Online 1980, “Popular Culture and Revolutionary Theory: Understanding Punk Rock”, The Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism Online. Available at https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/periodicals/theoretical-review/19801802.htm [5 March 2014]. Read More