Opinion & Comment
Was the Criticism of Rock and Roll Racist?

To the Editor:

I was rather put-off by certain features of the article about music which appeared in last week's issue (parshas Noach).

The theme was certainly appropriate and the conclusions the author reached were important and worthwhile. However, the article in more than one place interjected a crude racial element to the discussion of non-Jewish musical forms (specifically, rhythms, beats, etc.).

In the section called "What is Rock Music?" the author cites several critiques of Rock N' Roll from the 1950s, among them from a publication called The Southerner ("It will erode the entire moral structure of man . . . all the white man has built through his devotion to G-d.").

In the article's next section ("Rock Music Conquers the World"), the author notes that "by the mid 1950s . . . [r]eligious groups, local governments, police authorities and white citizens councils began to denounce rock and roll . . ."

A quote (spurious?) from The Closing of the American Mind is offered by way of another book that rock is "no less than the savage and primitive rhythm of darkest Africa."

Of course, we know the close connection of rock to jazz, and we know that jazz (in its purest form) was created by Black Americans. We also know that many (but not all) of the originators of rock n' roll were black. We also know that "mainstream" rock has, primarily, been a creation of white "artists."

The case against rock music as a cultural trend can easily be made. Likewise, the case for making a rigid separation between it and the kind of music recorded by "Jewish" artists and "Jewish" recording companies is easily made. The maintain a havdoloh in order to keep us far from the ways of the most corrupt of the nations.

The essential issues here are unrelated to race. The author, clearly reaching for a red herring (which, unfortunately, he found) sought to interject race and racist ideas into his argument. These ideas are un-Jewish in their provenance and have no place in your publication. The author's approach in this respect should be repudiated.

Sincerely,

M. P.

The Editor Replies: Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Racism is certainly not Jewish. For example, anyone can become a Jew regardless of race, as long as he or she meets the requirements.

Africa was chosen and referred to as it was not because its residents are unequivocally black -- which of course they are -- but because they are unequivocally primitive. Africa and the savages who live there were chosen as symbols of primitivism not as symbols of a race. Thus, I do not think that the comments are racist.

The main point is the primitivism of the music and not the racial origin. This is music only in its most primitive, elemental level. It is the product of a sensitivity that knows only the body and its functions and not the higher faculties of man. It is primal sound that emphasizes the body, gashmiyus.

This is something that was also recognized by non-Jews 50 years ago when this stuff started, but today it is completely forgotten.

If similar critics were writing today, they could, unfortunately, apply similar remarks to virtually the whole Western world.

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