I was watching the live stream when the heckler made the comment about "Where are all the black guys in your band?" It was a facepalm moment: PH has made it clear that part of the importance of what they are saying, and how clearly they are saying it, is that they ARE a bunch of white, southern dudes. He isn't speaking for black people: they can speak for themselves, have bands, write, etc...DBT doesn't have a black person in the band? Should they have? Dunno. What musicians were available when there was a spot in the band? Were there any black musicians interested at the time. (Leaving aside the Booker T record).
Talk about
missing the fucking point.
There's an article today about the new movie, "Detroit", directed by Kathryn Bigelow ("Hurt Locker"), and Michael Eric Dyson said this:
The reality of two Americas means that there is a significant segment of the population for whom the idea of racism in policing is either difficult to grasp or fiction. That makes the telling of this story by someone like Ms. Bigelow vitally important, said Michael Eric Dyson, the scholar and activist. Her broad appeal can attract white viewers who might not otherwise go to see a movie about this topic, he said.
“This is a white woman telling the truth as much as she can on film about racial injustice in America,” said Mr. Dyson, a Detroit native whom Ms. Bigelow consulted on the movie. “That will resonate very powerfully with white folks. What better way to use your white privilege than to undermine it, raise questions about it, leverage it on behalf of black and brown people who usually don’t have a voice in the matter at all.”
And to me, that is PRECISELY what Patterson and Cooley are tying to do with "What It Means", and other songs. The fucking Purity Police on my side of the political spectrum sometimes makes me feel pretty god-damned hopeless. (But then I put on "Ghost to Most" and I feel all right...)
I’d have a lot of nerve to go feigning shock and outrage/If I'd been my example I’d be worse