Recently we have all been hearing about the
controversy surrounding the Michael Brown case in the news. African-Americans
have been rallying around the murder of this young man and using it as a
platform to divulge frustrations that have been festering within the souls of
black people for some time now. One issue that arises is that of police
brutality. Was this young man, on the verge of beginning a new chapter of his
life, killed only because of the color of his skin and the stereotypes that
society has attached to it? The possibility of this question being answered in
the affirmative is a huge reason for why the black people are so mad.
The event is too reminiscent of that time where
the murder of African-American men, or rather, African-Americans in general,
was carried out without the slightest fear of punishment. The murder of
African-Americans was seen almost as a sport, a popular pastime, exercised by
white southerners that was socially and, at times, legally sanctioned. Often
times these murders were carried out by police officers, people who were sworn
to protect the public, but, instead, in the black community, were the most eminent
menaces. This reminiscent quality of the Micheal Brown case is a part of the
reason why black people are so mad. However, the rage runs even deeper than this.
The
Grammy winning artist, Lauryn Hill, relates the extensive depth of this rage
and its origins in a song that she wrote in reaction to Michael Brown. The song
is entitled, “Black Rage” and is, ironically, set to the tune of The Sound of Music’s “My favorite
things.
Some
of the lyrics are as follows:
Black rage is founded on
two-thirds a person
Rapings and beatings and
suffering that worsens
Black human packages tied
up in strings...
Black rage is founded on
draining and draining
Threatening your freedom to
stop your complaining…
Then call you mad for
complaining,complaining...
Black rage is founded on
blocking the truth
Murder and crime,
compromise and distortion
Sacrifice, sacrifice Who
makes this fortune?...
Black rage is founded on
these kinds of things...
Victims of violence both
pysche and body
Life out of context is
living unGodly
…
Black rage is founded on
denial of self
Black human packages tied
in subsistence
Having to justify very
existence
Try if you must but you
can't have my soul
Black rage is made by
unGodly control
In these lyrics, Hill
alludes to slavery, an institution that drained the life out of black bodies
and forever imprinted upon their psyche a feeling of inferiority. She speaks of
black activism, or protest, which she alludes to as complaining and the threats
used to stop it. She speaks finally of the unGodly control of rascist whites
that ultimately is the foundation of black rage. The song is a panorama of the
pains African Americans have had to endure throughout history and provides an
extensive answer to the question “Why the black people are so mad?”
The black people are so
mad because in Michael Brown’s case they see the ghosts of a past where
African-Americans were not treated like human beings, where they were denied
equal protection under the law, and even unjustly murdered by the law. They see
a terrible foreboding in his death, one that threatens a reversion to the past.
In other words, they see history threatening to repeat itself. This,
understandably, enrages black people because isn’t this supposed to be “post-racial”
America?
If you would like to listen to the song (I would suggest it)
here is the link:
Really interesting post! It makes me think about our class discussion today about how America is so selective in the instances of history it wishes to acknowledge. I think what's most interesting here is Hill's choice of tune she put her words to. The Sound of Music, I believe, was a staple in many of our childhoods. I know that I used to watch it all the time. In a way she is comparing the Von Trapp's oppression to black oppression. She's also alluding to the fact that in the original song, Maria encourages the children to think of other, happier things so that they can ignore their sadness. Unfortunately, as seen in the Michael Brown case, black sadness cannot be forgotten. I would argue, as I think Hill does, that this sadness does not need to be forgotten. Instead, it should be used to empower the black race and it's allies.
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