So I was in my car about an hour ago just flipping radio channels and I came upon a sad and sickening conversation on our alternative rock station, Q101. I think it's indicative of how the media's starting to get tired and turn away from a story that's actually forcing Americans to ask hard questions about race and justice in America.
I really like Q101 most of the time. They had the awesome idea to stand up to Clearchannel and start the "shuffle" playlist where they'll play a huge variety of alternative music, and that's led to a station that's way more interesting and fun than the old "here are the same 5 songs repeated" format. They made me sick today though. I used to think they were mostly awesome except for the middle school idiocy of Mancow-- although now it looks like another group of DJs has collapsed into conservative retard mode too.
Woody, Tony, and Ravey were on and they basically went into this whole riff on how they were sick of hearing about Katrina coverage and people should just turn off the news. Then this idiot ho of a woman called in and, after making a slam at Chicago's major rap station (B96), said they were really smart b/c they weren't playing clips of Kanye West. This turned into an extended riff on how Kanye West was stupid and had to be "the most illiterate man ever".
This is such racially coded bullshit. Kanye West has produced some of the smartest mainstream rap, if not music in general, in the last 5 years. Yet he criticizes Bush and he's suddenly "illiterate"?
This situation saddens me all the more because it points to the fact that racist (or at least racially flavored) attitudes are lurking below the multicultural facade of so much of mainstream media. Rock radio is particularly disturbing because of its willingness to promote certain white rappers (like Everlast or Eminem), thereby propelling them to huge audiences and mainstream respectability, while actively attacking the "crappy music" of black rappers. Their insistence on turning off the TV and not watching the news is, I think, representative of a coming storm that's going to rip through the country as people brought up on Reaganite fictions of racial utopia (eg: poor blacks are poor b/c they're too irresponsible and dumb to work, but we're not racist b/c there are a couple rich black guys, even though they all got into college b/c of affirmative action, but it's not racist to say so b/c it's clearly true that THOSE PEOPLE aren't smart enough, etc...) are suddenly forced to consider the racial dimensions of this tragedy. Our country has a long and sad tradition of hiding like ostriches when we're confronted by glaring internal problems, and I think we're seeing the start of the process now.
Anyway, their poll is at the station's website. Right now about 62% of responders think Kanye's statement was "outrageous". You can also call the show at (312)591-8300 if you'd like to express how you feel about this, or email the programming department at that link here.