| Dr. King Part 2 |
| Monday, 28 January 2008 | |
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As you can tell I’m really at odds with this whole integration theme. When I read this MLK speech, I realize that he’s speaking to Black Americans, telling them not to back down, that struggle and persistence will eventually win out. He’s telling them that although they may feel disempowered, they have an economic advantage when their funds are pooled for the collective good which leverages into sociopolitical power. Dr. King’s theory for justice is love and community organizing. Do you remember that controversy a few years back over the SATs? Allegedly, there was a question that had to do with the placement of a saucer, which side it was on or something like that. A young Hispanic girl was confused (and apparently upset) by this question because she’d never used a saucer. Her unfamiliarity with the dish made the question, nay the whole test, seem culturally (and intrinsically economically) biased. Or perhaps it had to do with the placement of forks. I don't remember. Most people I know only have one fork on the table and never have to think about a salad fork versus a dinner fork. It’s the same one to them! The argument then becomes how the heck any inner city youth would know this information when schools can’t afford computers and gang violence makes it almost impossible to be productive during the day. Should the test then cater to immigrant or lower income families or should schools teach the information for the test? Well, then you'll remember the math teacher who tried to use what he *thought* was relevant to the students ("If you have five guns...") and was fired for being racist or something else. His plea was that, the youths in his class are familiar with the scenario and he thought why not teach them math using the elements to which they were already accoustmed. So it becomes a matter of the majority’s standards. This is basic knowledge that I’m saying, nothing profound. If I live in a city, and had no idea what color a sparrow’s egg is, whose fault is that? You get some answers right and you get some wrong. CONTINUE... (click read more below) Now let’s reverse the table. Let’s have a test and ask what the other name for coriander is. Those familiar with Latino culture or even those who watch the Foodnetwork will scream “cilantro of course!” but is that fair to those who haven’t interacted with the ethnicity or who don’t eat different foods? And is that knowledge standard or should it be? How much does relevance and class have to do with what we should know? Or let’s ask on a test what year Dr. King was assassinated. Everyone gets the day off work therefore it is national knowledge, but would everyone get it right and is that ok?.I mean, is this common knowledge? Would even all African Americans know? Probably not. But those cultures, Latino and African American, aren’t the dominant ones. Therefore, we seem to have no choice but to integrate with the dominant to pass the test. So I can surmise that King was saying that exposure through integration is key for freedom and social justice, but I can’t figure out who his audience is exactly. I mean, is he telling me that all-race anythings stay stagnant and, dare I say, ignorant of the rest of the cultures in the world (or even in that same country)? Is that possible? The question again comes back to who is it hurting to stay within one’s own race? So go on, embrace different cultures, learn about that saucer and coriander and pass their tests. But just remember not to let anyone tell you what you can’t do or where you don’t belong. Truth is, we people of color, are judged not by our own standards (even though some of the hardest music I’ve studied was by composers of color), but by white Americas standards. Our individual qualifications matter little if they cannot be compared to those of The Other. But that’s historically philosophical and once again not at all profound. How is this relevant to the classical community of color? Let’s say we have an all-Black group and still only perform music by composers of European descent. Are we selling out? Are we staying stagnant—only within the European derived history book version of the music? Or will we perform exceptionally on their test and therefore win their respect? Or maybe it's not about that at all. Maybe that's how we've learned to judge ourselves, by perfecting their music. Or maybe that's what fills seats. Well, it worked for Marian Anderson. She was shepherded all over the world. She proved globally that young Black women could and should sing opera. And now it’s accepted as the norm (even going as far as to go out of vogue because the market is flooded with black opera stars). But who really has the power? They didn’t tour Ms. Anderson around the world to diversify their audiences. She toured because she was a phenomenol opera singer by their standards. She learned the rules, played the game and won. She's the Tiger Woods. The Venus Williams of the classical world So now I wonder if my hypothetical all-Black group ONLY performs music by Black composers is really supporting my community (supplying jobs and exposing composers) all while performing on European instruments with their technique… is that enough for integration?? Or do I have to perform their music too? Which is more genuine? Doing as I feel or doing what wins? Was the goal simply to show them that I could? And now that it’s known, can I do whatever I want? Gold? Rules? Dr. King encouraged accomplishing their standards as well as setting our own. He discouraged waiting for the dominant culture to give us gold thereby struggling to please their ever-changing whims. He wanted instead for us to support and strengthen our own communities. That was how we would demonstrate our intelligence, our economic power and rise up. For more on the SAT controversy, read: |
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