MLK, racism and music

Filed in Music Philosophy on January 16, 2012



Last year about this time, I wrote an article and I would like to refer it to you again:

Appreciating the World's Music

It is appropriate on Martin Luther King's birthday to revisit this subject because it is a topic that matters to musicians.  I know that some of you are already turned off and I understand that, but I am still going to write about it from time to time. 

Many of us (including me) grew up in a culture that did not handle racial issues well.  Thankfully, things have improved. In fact, the progress that we have seen just in the past 20 years has been remarkable in that the things I heard regularly as a child even in church and school would not be said today. 

Sadly though, some parts of society have improved faster than others.  Amazingly, pockets of the conservative church scene were far behind the rest of the world in rejecting racism.  I don't have to point out examples because you all know them.  How pathetic was it? Well, I remember people I knew lambasting the Southern Baptists for "succumbing to political correctness" because about 10 years ago, they apologized for their racial past.

Most of us have grown since then.  There are still pockets of racism out there but overall, things are much better.  Even some of the most blatantly-racist organizations of the past have finally apologized and officially changed positions.

But I want to reemphasize a point to you musicians.  Even though you may not be a racist, you have almost certainly been influenced by racism.  You don't have to go far to find racists within Christianity who have been considered very influential in Christian music.  You may have never met them but if you go a few levels deep in your musical heritage, you will find their influence. 

Often that flawed teaching is couched in very spiritual-sounding terms.  It sounds good on the surface but it is rotten on the inside--driven by a very small view of the world rather than real theology.

As I wrote in the article above, we can celebrate the achievements of men and women in our past even though they had blind spots.  That includes the blind spot of racism, as vulgar a blind spot as that is.  Many of those individuals overcame their flaws and did great things.

The same is true for Martin Luther King who had his share of flaws as well.  The world is a better place for his work.  That is true in spite of the racist demagoguery I heard from others about him when I was a child.

As musicians who want to make a positive impact on church music, we first must recognize that we have been influenced, and most of the time, by flawed leaders.  Secondly, while we can have heroes, we must not wear blinders and ignore the dangers that their teaching may contain.  And last, we must resolve to overcome those biases and create music that rises above any errant biases that have been passed on to us.  In other words, we need to resolve to swim upstream at times, as hard as that might be.

Happy Martin Luther King Day.




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Jim Deets
1/16/2012 1:56:08 PM

A very courageous statement Greg that needs to be said. You are a breath of fresh air as I note the overwhelming silence that comes from most all other conservative church music leaders on this particular topic.

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Rachel
1/16/2012 3:13:40 PM

Greg, you are so heavily nuanced here that I am having a hard time connecting the dots. What specifically are you saying musicians need to do from a musical perspective? What do you mean by swimming upstream?

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paul
1/16/2012 6:38:40 PM

Scott A. posted something on his site today that touches on the same topic from a different perspective. If you read it, I am curious to know how what he said would relate to what you are saying here.

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Greg
1/17/2012 10:36:11 AM

I checked the article Paul. It is an argument I am familiar with. I think that it is theoretically possible that one could judge culture without racism/elitism; I am just pretty skeptical of those who claim they can do it. For sure that includes the author of that article.

So could that be done? Yes. Should that be done? To some degree, yes. Has that been done traditionally in conservative Christian circles? Not by a long shot.

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paul
1/18/2012 1:15:29 PM

Thanks for your response Greg. I think there is pretty widespread agreement that is a good thing to see a turning away from overt racism on the part of conservative Christians. As the article I referenced states though it is necessary for Christians to exercise Biblical discernment and make jugments about how cultural expressions line up with scriptural principles. These judgments are subject to error and thus debate among believers. I think the point of the article though is that it is not helpful to use the accusation of racism to address arguments that are not based explicitly on race. I take the position that the author you are skeptical of and others like him are trying to evaluate things musical and cultural by their understanding of scripture without racist motivations. Why bring race into a discussion that is not making racist arguments.

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Greg
1/18/2012 1:31:59 PM

You ask: "Why bring race into a discussion that is not making racist arguments. "

In a way, you answer your own question when you say this: "These judgments are subject to error and thus debate among believers." These errors are due partly to bias, no?

Here is a fact that I will defend in a debate with anyone at any time: you cannot separate the conservative church's racism from some of its music philosophy. I have written in the past about some of the key thinkers who have influenced this and I could name others here but I am going to refrain.

So Paul, you go ahead and try to parse culture all you wish. I have no problem with that. But my point in this article is that those who do so had better examine themselves carefully to see what remnants of racist philosophy exist in their thinking. I don't think you or that other author are racists but I suggest that both of you (and me) have had racist influence in your past that colors how you see this music debate.

One other thing. There are a few people like me that will stand up and suggest what I am suggesting. Every time it happens, people on the other side object to bringing race into the equation. That is their perogative, but I will continue to bring race into the equation because I strongly believe it is part of the equation.

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paul
1/19/2012 11:57:23 AM

Strictly speaking Greg, even if you could establish that some particular proponent, past or present, of conservative music philosophy indeed had racist motivations it would not necessarily prove that what they were saying about music was not true. So I would urge you to continue to attack racism, but to leave it out of the music debate unless it dares to raise its ugly head as an explicit argument.

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Greg
1/19/2012 12:09:48 PM

With all due respect Paul (and I do respect your opinions), I strongly disagree with you. Discussion of racism does belong in the church music debate and I do not intend to back down on that.

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Greg
1/19/2012 12:43:19 PM

Rachel, sorry I missed your question. "Swimming upstream" may mean being willing to stand up and confront certain attitudes. It may mean being willing to make statements through your music as well. I am a little vague here because I am still working some things out myself and I don't want to tell other musicians how to go about this.

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