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<h1 id="title-index">Politics-Conspiracies-Project</h1>
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<h2>control</h2>
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<p>RACISM, CONTROL, AND ROCK AND ROLL</p>
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<p>By JACOB G. HORNBERGER</p>
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<p>Civil rights laws are among the most repugnant forms of
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political control in American society. Not only are they a
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severe violation of the principles of freedom, they also have
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totally failed to achieve their purported end -- the
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elimination of racism in America.</p>
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<p>Few intelligent people will deny that racial prejudice is
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itself morally abhorrent. And being half-Mexican, I know from
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personal experience that it is not pleasant to be at the
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receiving end of prejudice against Hispanics (or half-breeds!). But does the wrongful nature of racism mean that
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such social conduct should be turned over to the coercive
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power of government? NO!</p>
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<p>First, how can an individual be considered free if government
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officials have the power to coerce him, through fine or
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imprisonment, to associate with people with whom he does not
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desire to associate? It is the essence of individual liberty
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to be able to choose one's friends and associates without
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interference from the political authorities.</p>
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<p>Moreover, the bedrock of freedom is private ownership of
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property. How can a person be considered free if he can be
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coerced, through fine or imprisonment, into selling what
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supposedly belongs to him to a person to whom he would rather
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not sell? It is the essence of private ownership of property
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that a person have the right to do whatever he wants with his
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own property, as long as it is peaceful.</p>
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<p>Racial prejudice, of course, has long existed in American
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society. No where was this better exemplified in this century
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than in the segregation laws which American politicians and
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bureaucrats enforced in the 1950s. Did segregation laws
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guarantee the freedom and private property rights of
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individuals? On the contrary! These equally offensive forms of
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political control constituted the denial of individual freedom
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and private property. Why? Because they prohibited blacks and
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whites, through fine or imprisonment, from voluntarily
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associating with each other in many social and business
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contexts.</p>
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<p>The crucial question is: Why did the politicians and
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bureaucrats believe that segregation laws were necessary? Why
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didn't they simply leave people free to discriminate or not on
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a purely private basis? Why did they force them to
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discriminate with segregation laws? Because they knew that the
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market process would impose tremendous financial costs on
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racists and ultimately break down racial barriers in America.</p>
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<p>Are there any examples of where the market, rather than the
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government, has accomplished this end? Yes! One of the best
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examples involves one of the most controversial activities in
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20th century America: rock and roll.</p>
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<p>The story of rock and roll has been told in many books, among
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which are You Say You Want a Revolution by Robert G. Pielke
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and The Story of Rock by Carl Belz. From the very beginning,
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it was the music of the young, and was hated and reviled by
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the old. Why? Not simply because the music itself was
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distasteful to adults. The animosity against rock and roll
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went much deeper than that. Rock and roll shook the
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foundations of values and beliefs held dear by grown-ups in
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the 1950s.</p>
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<p>One of the most important social teachings during that time
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was that blacks were inferior to whites and, therefore, that
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it was unacceptable for whites to associate with blacks. The
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best example of this was found in government schools. With
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segregation, and the battle against integration, in government
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schools, American teenagers were taught by their parents and
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government officials that it was socially detestable for
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whites to be with blacks.</p>
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<p>Along came rock and roll and turned that teaching upside down.
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While rock and roll had its roots in various strands of
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American music, i.e., country/western and gospel, its biggest
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foundation was rhythm and blues or "race music" as it was
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known in the 1950s. While whites were enjoying the sweet,
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innocent sounds of the Big Bands, rhythm and blues, with its
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especially strong sexual overtones, predominated among blacks.</p>
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<p>It was natural for white parents to expect their children to
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pursue their same musical interests. But it was not to be.
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When Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" was played in the
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1955 movie, The Blackboard Jungle, a story of student protest
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in a government school, rock and roll became the music of
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choice for American teenagers.</p>
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<p> While parents were resisting their children's growing
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love for rock and roll, teenagers were listening to it on the
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radio late at night (after their parents had gone to bed).
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Many well-established radio stations refused to play the new
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music, but teenagers would carefully search the radio band for
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the few that did. (My favorite was an Oklahoma City station
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more than 500 miles from my home.)</p>
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<p>And along came Sam Phillips, the entrepreneur par excellence,
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who shook the world by looking for a white man who sang like a
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black man. One day the invisible hand of the market brought
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into his studio the man who would become the King of Rock and
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Roll, Elvis Presley. Elvis was hated and condemned by grown-ups. But teenagers didn't care, and Elvis became the social
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phenomenon of the century. (While on our way to a national
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student council convention when I was in the 9th grade, a few
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of us discovered that Elvis was staying in our motel. I
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knocked on his door and asked if Elvis would come out to
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visit. At about midnight, Elvis Presley came down to the pool
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and spent some time visiting with a few of us. It did not take
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long to see that he was a great person and that what grown-ups
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were saying about him was untrue.)</p>
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<p>The white racists were furious over the trend toward rock and
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roll. But not just because teenagers were rejecting their
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social teaching. Well-established financial interests were
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getting hurt by the market process. Radio stations which
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played only the "correct" music were losing market share and,
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therefore, advertising revenue.</p>
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<p>There was also a tremendous upheaval in the record business.
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Small independent record companies called "indies" were
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experiencing phenomenal growth rates by producing rock and
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roll records. And the well-established record companies which
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concentrated on the traditional music were losing a major
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share of the market.</p>
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<p>Rock and roll was providing a vehicle by which blacks could
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out-compete whites and accumulate wealth. There were numerous
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success stories; among the best known was Berry Gordy, Jr.,
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and his Motown Records, who produced such rock and roll greats
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as The Supremes, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and the
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Miracles, and The Temptations. Blacks were getting wealthy,
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and white racists were infuriated.</p>
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<p>The market process was also bringing whites and blacks closer
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together in other ways. Buddy Holly, who created some of the
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most beautiful music ever written, shocked the black audience
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at the Apollo Theater in New York City. (No white act had ever
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played the Apollo!) And they loved him! White teenagers were
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flocking to see Chuck Berry sing "Roll Over <span class="PERSON">Beethoven</span>,"
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"Maybellene," and "Sweet Little Sixteen." And, horror of
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horrors, white and black musicians were even travelling
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together!</p>
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<p>The world of racial separation for which adults longed in the
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1950s was disintegrating among their children. And it was
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occurring not as a result of government coercion but in spite
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of it.</p>
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<p>The response of the political authorities was not amusing. In
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some cases, rock concerts were banned by ordinance. Musicians
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were arrested on questionable charges. But the most tragic
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abuse of political power came from the United States
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government which, with its payola investigation, did
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everything it could to destroy rock and roll.</p>
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<p>Payola was a practice in which record companies would pay disc
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jockies to promote their records. Payola was well-known and
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well-established in the music business and had been going on
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long before the advent of radio. But U.S. Congressmen had not
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objected when musicians in the Big Band era were paid to play
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a composer's music. It was only when rock and roll became
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popular among the youth of America that the politicians' wrath
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came in the form of a Congressional investigation of an
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activity that was harming no one.</p>
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<p>While the political investigation cast a wide net over rock
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and roll, its ultimate brunt was felt by Alan Freed, a disc
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jockey who was the first to coin the term "rock and roll."
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Freed was one of the earliest and most successful promoters of
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rock and roll, is generally recognized as the "Father of Rock
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and Roll," and appeared in the rock and roll movie, Rock
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Around the Clock. But all that ended with the Congressional
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attempt to destroy rock and roll. In one of the ugliest abuses
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of political power in American history, U.S. Congressmen
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brutalized and butchered Alan Freed. He died a broken man in
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1965 at the age of 43.</p>
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<p>But the politicians and the racists, despite their fervent
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hopes and valiant efforts, have never been able to destroy
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rock and roll and its wonderful influence on American culture.</p>
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<p>Reliance on the market, rather than government, to break down
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racial barriers ensures that the costs of racial prejudice are
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self-imposed rather than externally imposed. If the racist
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radio station owner, for example, chooses not to play the
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music of blacks, he foregoes the advertising revenue which
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could be used to improve the lot of his family. He bears the
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cost which his racial prejudice has induced him to impose upon
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himself!</p>
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<p>The market process also enables racists to vent their
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prejudices by engaging in discrimination. Denying them this
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opportunity does not eliminate the racism under which they
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suffer; instead, it compresses it in a "pressure cooker" which
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ultimately is bound to explode.</p>
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<p>Rock and roll has been one of the most revolutionary cultural
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phenomena in American history. It has produced some of the
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world's most beautiful music. Of course, not all of its music
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has been popular but that is the essence of a free society --
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the legal protection of those peaceful activities which the
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majority dislike.</p>
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<p>But rock and roll did more than just contribute to the musical
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heritage of the world. It also sent deep and profound quakes
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through some of the most wrongful beliefs of American adults.
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The social upheaval began with challenges to racial prejudice
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but it did not end there. A few years later, appeared an
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individual named Boy Dylan, one of the world's greatest poets
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and ironically a product of America's government schools.
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Through the message of his music, Dylan pierced the conscience
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of a generation during the most controversial war in American
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history.</p>
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<p>Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of
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Freedom Foundation, P.O. Box 9752, Denver, CO 80209.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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From the October 1990 issue of FREEDOM DAILY,
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Copyright (c) 1990, The Future of Freedom Foundation,
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PO Box 9752, Denver, Colorado 80209, 303-777-3588.
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Permission granted to reprint; please give appropriate credit
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and send one copy of reprinted material to the Foundation.
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</p>
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