A Century Of Soul (Part IV)

America Is Still Divided - In A Poverty Of Positive Ideas

In this, the final chapter in our current series for Black History Month 2006, we're going to look at a combination of things, including a little more history and the evolution of music from the 70's and 80's. But first, we want to look positively on the progress that's been made in spite of the obstacles that had to be overcome.

We want to examine the existence of the poverty pimps who fake fighting poverty as a means of pursuing personal gain; many of the early anti-poverty programs were rife with opportunism and corruption. We saw them emerge again with Hurricane Katrina. Given the economic and social structure of how poverty reproduces itself , these programs are an unfolding cataclysm for minorities. We have seen many of those programs exposed and eliminated, and yet there are still those who would use the fact that they once existed as a reason to deny benefits to those who have earned and really need them

You don't have to dig deep to find those stories. Just spin the right wing dominated AM radio dial and you'll hear harangues virtually indistinguishable from those that drove white mobs into the streets seeking black victims in past generations. They rivaled US Education Secretary-turned moralizing pundit Bill Bennett, who in September announced, "If you wanted to reduce crime, you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down."

But there are also positive examples of growth and progress. There are positive successful figures such as Condoleeeza Rice, Barrack Obama, Michael Jordan, Robert Johnson, Cathy Hughes, Denzel Washington, Doc Wynter and Jamie Foxx.

But for most of us, a society in which race doesn't hold us back is still a distant goal. All things are still not equal by a long shot. In many areas -- access to loans, health care and even the amount of face time black candidates get in the media -- the racial fault lines determine that blacks are treated less-favorably than non-blacks, regardless of income or social class. We are still struggling for the same basic rights as other Americans. Policies seem to follow the rhetoric.

For example, you may remember in Florida just before the 2000 elections. Governor Jeb Bush's administration purged some 57,700 voters, a disproportionate number of whom were black, from the voting rolls for allegedly being felons. Because many of the voters weren't felons, the NAACP and other organizations decried the move as racist.

And so as we look forward we want to make certain that we haven't forgotten the past and those whose struggles allowed many of us to survive. They took their time and persevered. They give us reason for hope. They struggled, often without even the most basic tools that most of us take for granted. So as we celebrate Black History Month, we must not rush on and forget about them. They survived time.

Crossover In The 70's

Now let's flash back to the seventies. There were well over 100 radio stations "beamin' black " … or so they thought. They figured they were programming solely to black listeners, but they were wrong. As a measure of assessing the popularity of black music radio, in the early 70's, audience research companies, including Arbitron, began touting the fact that not only had black radio arrived, but had brought with it scores of non-ethnic listeners. Black radio had indeed crossed over -- in a big way!

What made black radio such a good indicator of musical tastes? First, an overwhelming proportion of blacks listened almost exclusively to it. Second, black stations found their audience had expanded so much so that, where there were strong signals, they consistently placed among the top five stations in the market. In many cities they were not only format dominant, they were market dominant.

In such a highly-competitive business arena, stations have to be sensitive to public tastes to stay in business. Advertising finances them. Thus, the larger their audience shares, the greater the advertising revenues.

The influences these stations had on their top-40 counterparts were tremendous, as well. In Chicago, for example, whenever WVON or WBMX consistently placed songs in their top ten, there was little doubt that in order for Top-40 stations WLS WCFL and B-96 to be considered ratings leaders, they too, had to play most of these songs. The same was true in New York where WWRL and WBLS influenced WABC, WOR-FM and Z-100. These same type of stations' influences occurred in Detroit, Washington, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Baltimore, Memphis, Charlotte and Birmingham.

Top-40 and adult contemporary radio then, as now, continually crisscrossed the color line as each borrowed something from the other and in some cases, added a few tricks of their own. It became a constant process of thievery, homage and inexact limitation. Eventually the cream rose to the top and even in some highly "vanilla" markets, a lot of "coffee" had more "color" than it did previously. For the first time, some found that they actually preferred to have it black.

Despite its popularity, black music and radio faced many obstacles in their struggle for recognition and freedom of expression. Indeed, the fight for equality continued as the central theme in the African-American experience.

As we reflect the state of black music and radio of the 70's and 80's we find the conditions of African-Americans overall in America constantly reflected in our music. The music and America both evolved together. The 70's and 80's were decades of rebellion, change and protest. Black music and radio mirrored that effort. Those were the days when FCC required ascertainment reports. There were times when one could hear public service shows on the weekend that were full of anger and protest expressed by community action groups who were "tired of being tired." Indeed black people had come a long way and the black rebellion was set against the great white put-down and our insistence on rights sprung from a newfound pride.

While unawareness was seen as the most serious barrier to the newfound pride and to easing the racial crisis, well-meaning whites could not shed a paternalist attitude toward blacks.

With the many activities of the 70's and 80's, being black became a new religion and converts were made when the search for identity resulted in discovery. The walls of caste came down, at least inside black America, and the marks of bondage became the articles of sacrament. African-Americans began to talk to other African-Americans about the food they ate, the music they liked and even about the rhythms of their walk. For the black activists and Muslims, responsibility was preparing for Armageddon. For others, less fatalistic or more naïve, responsibility riveted them to the here and now. Some who left the ghetto were heading back. A few had "found" themselves -- and a lot who claimed they had -- were still looking. Ghetto issues became more crucial and targets of oppression got bigger all the time. Blacks began to raise hell about who taught what to black children and if black history wasn't included then even the children got pummeled in fractious debates.

And yet, the music played on.

Fast forward to 2006. With consolidation, Arbitron's PPM, HD radio, iPods, voice-tracking, downloading and satellite radio forever changing the landscape and wreaking havoc with our lives, now there is a new buzz that is attracting attention and spreading rumors which will soon become a part of our history.

We're a part of that history -- a growing part. A look at the updated facts of the African-American market shows that growth. The African-American and lately, Hispanic populations have exploded -- increasing twice as fast as the majority population of the deep South, particularly in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The most extensive growth in the black population did not come from immigration. Ninety-five percent of all blacks are native-born Americans.

The growth is part of our accumulated experiences and shared histories brought forth. Those histories and these people do, however, define our opportunities and obligations to the next generation. We need to help restore and inspire dignity for what they accomplished.

Most of all, we can use that hope to inspire both today's and tomorrow's future decision-makers with the idea that integrity, family values, and respect still matter

It is obvious that our industries are on the verge of a new era -- one that is filled with bold challenges, new opportunities and, for some, huge rewards. Despite the obstacles, the remainder of this "century of soul" and our future looks bright and promising and success can be part of that tradition. It's a future that begins by looking forward and glancing back. Looking forward to a future filled with pride and glancing back to a past that gives us hope and another reason to keep the struggle and the dream alive.

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