Racism reflected from "Black or White"
The music video “Black or White” from
Michael Jackson was released in 1991. There are lots of music performances
which reflect the racism; however, in this music video, what I’m interested is
the controversial attitude of black artists for the racism.
In the main topic about “Black or White”, Michael
Jackson encourages celebratory multiculturalism explicitly both in the scene
and lyrics. Jackson dances with different people who are from Thailand, Native
America, Africa, Russia and India and coalesces with their dancing style so
that audience can see a picture about culture diversity. When Michael Jackson
steps on the Statue of Liberty, there are the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Temple of
Hera, and Sphinx which stands for different countries France, Britain, Greece
and Egypt. Every country has its own culture and Michael Jackson outlined the
world in difference. In the end, the most famous face-off surprised the world
with the lyrics “it is black, it is white, it is tough to get it by”, emphasize
the topic of multiculturalism but not racial segregation.
(Here is a picture for Jackson and Thailand women and I love it so much because I think Jackson matches with this Thailand women although they are from different culture)
The controversy attitudes exists because
black artists have to be accepted by the white mainstream to be successful
though they always appeal “we want equal!! But not discrimination!!” What
reflect my opinion obviously is, in the panther dance at the end, there is no
obvious encouragement of the equality of the black or white; instead, there is
just some “Nigger go Home” graffiti broken. It doesn’t mention anything about “whiteness”
compared with “Nigger”. Michael Jackson is shaped by the whiteness in action actually
because the music is still controlled by the whiteness. Before he did anything,
he has to think about the influence on the white audience first.
(Here is a picture when Michael Jackson makes the panther dance. There is no sing, no light, and just dance.)
So my conclusion is black artists always struggled
in perusing equality and the bad racial reality. They desire racial equality
but it is so hard to come true.
ReplyDeleteActually I have written my ARP with the same topic as you. You analysis from both the blacks and whites perspective is appreciated. However, the Mj’s consideration of the white audience’s mood and attitude doesn’t sound powerful enough to support that the blacks are still struggle for their right. In the other word, you have better support your thesis with a more relevant evidence, like the historical information and social phenomenon.
Agree with lily. It is kind of hard to tell from the video that black artist are suffering the discrimination in the field of music. To be frank, when I look at the name of the song, the first thing flashing my mind is absolutely the racial discrimination. But the first part of your blog is going to talk about multiculturalism and then the second part discusses the racial discrimination among artists. In my opinion, it seems two separate thesis and the connect between them is not that obvious.
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