In the USA today there is a miasma that has affected the entire culture of the country. I am not talking about COVID 19. Look around you at the people of the two major groupings in the US, white and black. Do you notice how there seems to be a similarity in how they dress, act and in some cases look? I know. I know. There are distinct differences, hair, etc. Yet, if one went into any semi integrated school they would notice how the two races are strikingly similar. The sad part is that this newfound similarity has killed the culture and creativity of the USA. Integration was the rallying cry in the 60’s and is still shouted in 2020.
Integration was supposed to be the solution to all the race woes in the USA. Integration never truly happened. What happened was a perverse form of assimilation. Black people wound up assimilating a white culture which killed their creativity. This action by blacks in turn watered down white culture.
There is one major reason the USA was so advanced in the arts, music and even industry in the past. This reason was because the white people had an endless amount of black creativity to draw upon. Black people in the USA were creative and whites capitalized on this for their own gain. Blacks were, and still are, treated like feces but in the past they used adverse conditions to be innovative. Black people used miserable living conditions to create the Blues music genre. From the Blues you get R&B, Rap, Hip Hop music genres. White people used these music genres to create their own versions, Rock and Roll, Heavy Metal, Swing music. Creativity flourished in spite of the animosity between white and black people.
Fast forward to the 2020 music scene. African American music went from groups like Earth, Wind and Fire to nothing. There are no African American musical groups that can even compare. Why you ask? The assimilation into white culture. This assimilation has given a false sense of acceptance by whites to the later generations of African Americans. If this were not true why then are African Americans shocked by the murder of African American males by police? Better yet, why are African Americans still seeking salvation from a court system that never cared for them and act shocked with the rulings? These new African Americans think they are white and are constantly being rudely reminded that this is not the case.
How does this affect white people? We’ll stick to the music industry. The 80’s was a glorious time for music in the USA. You had Prince, Micheal Jackson and rap music was beginning to go nationwide. On the white side of the coin there was: Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, David Bowie and the Second British Invasion. During the 80’s you had both races producing good music in genres associated with their race. In a sense it was musical segregation with an occasional crossover.
In 2020 Hip Hop and R&B seems to have taken over. You can see both white and black people nodding their heads to this sad dissertation of failure. This music may bring the two races together but it has dumbed both races down. This dumbing effect is one reason why you see males and females of both races walking around in school wearing sleep clothes. This also is why the hoodie and tight or too-big pants have become the uniform for teens of both races. The adults are no smarter. Both white and black adults in the USA wear similar clothes. Women wear leggings like they were the new Kalmanovich party dress. Men wear basketball shorts, pro team shirts, ball caps with beards.
Sameness has killed the USA. Separate but equal or even unequal, would have never wiped out culture in the USA the way sameness has. Just watch the American Music Awards in November and you’ll see proof of the collapse of culture in the USA.
Frank James IV © 2020
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or NCON Communication, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.