२६ डिसेंबर, २०२१

"These were not men who would necessarily raise a Black Power fist or quote Stokely Carmichael or Angela Davis, but were activists nonetheless, who doubled down..."

"... on the ideas of Black respectability and Black excellence as counters to the racial stereotypes that circulated widely in American media and popular culture. Cornielius himself was hypersensitive to negative racial stereotypes; in the program’s popular word-scramble segment, he wanted to make sure participants actually knew how to spell—even sharing the word beforehand—to guarantee that they wouldn’t show up on national television reinforcing ideas of Black illiteracy."

४६ टिप्पण्या:

David Begley म्हणाले...

The quiz show was rigged? Wasn’t that a giant scandal when a White guy did it?

rehajm म्हणाले...

For the kids I grew up with Soul Train was a Saturday TV act as important as Bugs Bunny, The Kroffts, Bandstand and Super Friends. We would all laugh and have fun and try to copy the moves and imitate Don Cornelius. He was cool…

I expected The Nation to scold me for appropriation or some revisionism contortions worthy of the dance line but instead there’s restraint. Perhaps Soul Train is just too much fun to wreck….

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

reinforcing ideas of Black illiteracy.

You need statistics to do that, not game-show contestants.

Wilbur म्हणाले...

I watched Soul Train every Saturday back in the 70s. It never occurred to me that the word jumble contestants could not spell.

It was noticeable that, although the women were of different races, only black men were allowed on the show. It didn't bother me; I figured it's their railroad, they can run it however they want.

Václav Patrik Šulik म्हणाले...

When I was a boy, I can remember my very white (Slovak) father playing Soul Train every Saturday while he paid the bills. He was a Marine Corps Lt. Colonel and commanding officer of a battalion. I never asked him about it, but I think it was because he wanted to be able to understand his Marines. He received a letter of commendation from Elmo Zumwalt (I read it a few years back) because he was the first battalion to have zero "Unauthorized Absences" over a 30-day period in forever. And yes, I think Don Cornielius had something to do with that.

RBE म्हणाले...

I grew up in the era of peace, love and brotherhood. I watched both Soul Train and American Bandstand and didn't even think twice about it and appreciated both. I can sing along with all the 60s and early 70s top 10 R&B songs on XM...isn't that they way it is supposed to be?

Wilbur म्हणाले...

Ha. So of course there's a white guy on the video. This must have been late in the show's run.

I swear he is only one I ever saw, as I sheepishly slink away.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

"Basic level" reading had an IQ cut-off of about 88.
"Proficient level" reading had an IQ cut-off of about 101.

Curious George म्हणाले...

"he wanted to make sure participants actually knew how to spell—even sharing the word beforehand—to guarantee that they wouldn’t show up on national television reinforcing ideas of Black illiteracy."

And thus guaranteeing they would never actually learn to read and write. But man they can dance!

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

The United States was practically forced to carry out a kind of experiment. Can jazz and then rock 'n roll be "synthesized" with bourgeois life--holding a job, owning a house, having savings--or do they remain a distinct and somewhat hostile culture, always threatening to undermine what has made the modern West successful? What we might call the nightclub culture is not just hedonism--it is silly to say that. It is a culture with rules and norms, what is cool and what is not, etc. At least up to a point, white kids took all this on with very little lasting damage to the career, ability to travel, and all that. Perhaps the new culture made it even easier to abandon some of the parents' ways--a certain amount of church-going, listening to classical music for the sake of the kids. Hippies used to sneer about martinis, but they have helped to bring phenomenal rivers of drugs into the world. It seems illogical that promiscuity/hook-ups can actually lead to stable and lasting relationships, but for some it clearly does. The richer people are, the more they seem to value monogamy.

What about black kids? Would they think the nightclub culture, perhaps later including hip-hop, graffiti, and tattoos, a certain kind of bling, was so much "their" culture that for the sake of self-respect it had to be defended against the bourgeois mainstream? Of course it is convenient for the gang-bangers to have everyone in their hood think this way. The gang leaders can be nasty, but at least they are ours. Various ethnic groups have had their gangs and their sub-cultures: supposedly the poorer WASPS of New York vs. the Irish, later the Italians and Puerto Ricans (West Side Story again!), and so on. The old culture becomes a bit of an embarrassment, then it is re-embraced in some anodyne form, Broadway and Hollywood, how colorful, then everybody is more or less bourgeois and intermarriage disappears as an issue.

The experiment continues, but I for one have been notably unimpressed at the quality of black leadership in the last couple of years in comparison to the 60s. Who is the Don Cornelius of today? I guess Bill Cosby was trying to fill that role ... er, forget it. Basketball players? Or are they just more jet-setters who can do whatever they want?

rhhardin म्हणाले...

It doesn't seem to have helped. Maybe the idea of black culture is completely wrong-headed. Wouldn't it, for example, produce memes accommodating lower black IQ, leading to exactly the stereotype it wants to avoid.

Just go American, not black.

JAORE म्हणाले...

"he wanted to make sure participants actually knew how to spell—even sharing the word beforehand—to guarantee that they wouldn’t show up on national television reinforcing ideas of Black illiteracy."

Sooooo, he hides a (feared) display of black illiteracy to demonstrate "Black excellence"?

Next thing you know we'll eliminate grades in schools and merit based hiring.

Expectations met or modified..



Robert Marshall म्हणाले...

As if the act of sharing the word-scramble answer with the contestants beforehand doesn't itself reinforce ideas of Black illiteracy!

Big Mike म्हणाले...

@David Begley (7:12) and Robert Marshall (8:17), in the world Althouse inhabits giving answers out ahead of time is only a scandal when the producers, MCs, and contestants are white. Cornelius and Soul Train get Black Privilege.

Rory म्हणाले...

Nothing better than Don Cornelius interviewing Barry White.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

You could say that sharing the answers with the players makes him a rigger.

Bilwick म्हणाले...

At first I thought, "Wow--those kids know who Lerone Bennett is?! Good for them!" I read his book on Reconstruction and was feeling kind of self-congratulatory. And I didn't even have Don Cornelius giving me answers.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

I didn't watch Soul Train, but I did find BET's semi-fictional American Soul series about the show very watchable. It's a soap opera, but what isn't nowadays (only daytime TV isn't soap operas for some reason)? It was better than the now much-maligned Empire, because the history/nostalgia element supplemented the usual and expected plot elements.

If I had known the back story, I might have watched Soul Train when it was on. Seventies Black culture seemed very alien in those days. If you lived in the suburbs it could look like a hostile counter-culture. Now soul and funk and all the rest are part of 1970s American culture and fascinating to rediscover. I probably should have been watching American Bandstand, too, but it wasn't really treasured once you got away from the Delaware Valley and it wasn't as easy to find in some other parts of the country.

Tom T. म्हणाले...

I'm more curious about the orc who's dancing with Big Bird.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

I was also a regular watcher from about mid Summer of 1978 until around 1984. I didn't realize that the show had continued on unti 2006.

Another old lawyer म्हणाले...

So obviously fake. They didn't even turn the letters right side up or in a straight horizontal line before using them to spell the correct name.

William म्हणाले...

When the waltz first came out it scandalized Europe. Couples danced in near embrace to seductive melodies. The waltz was a product of German culture. I suppose it was more Viennese than Prussian, but it was very popular in Prussia. The Junkers hated it. They forbade officers in uniform from dancing the waltz but could never quite forbid the playing of such music. I suppose you could say that both the popularity and disapproval of the waltz were peculiar elements of German culture.....There's an element of Black culture that has produced the music to match the jagged rhythms of our systems, and there's an element of Black culture that seeks to game the jagged edges of our systems.....The Junkers didn't exactly lead the German people to lasting happiness. Maybe it would have been better if the Austrians and Gemutlichkeit had won out over the Prussians and their discipline... I don't know if the slick gamesters in Black culture are a creative or subversive force. The music on Soul Train wasn't a fraud, but there was pretense and artificiality in other areas. Music doesn't always save your soul.

guitar joe म्हणाले...

"The quiz show was rigged? Wasn’t that a giant scandal when a White guy did it?" Soul Train wasn't a quiz show and the scramble didn't award any prizes.

Narr म्हणाले...

Soul Train was one of the few shows I watched regularly, and it wasn't for the warmbelscrod.
Midnight Special was must-watch for a few years too.

American Bandstand wasn't really on my list, for whatever reason.

Elvis' pal George Klein had a local dance party show featuring, among others, a very young Cybill Shepherd as a WHBQutie.



mikee म्हणाले...

Some of the best music I heard growing up was from this show, usually catching me by complete surprise as I channel surfed (ABC, CBS, NBC and our one UHF channel) late at night after my parents were asleep and before the stations signed off for the night. Yes, stations shut down overnight way back then, from 12 to 6 or so, usually ending the broadcast day with a rousing version of the US anthem or that poem about flight and touching the face of God. The show may have aired during other hours, but it was late at night when I saw it.

And no, I'm not confusing this show with Midnight Special, which was its own brand of wonderful for a whitebread Catholic kid in suburban North Carolina.

rcocean म्हणाले...

I can remember those dreary childhood saturdays in the 70s. IT'd be too cold or rainy to go outside, there'd be no interesting sports or good movies on TV. Flipping thorugh the channels I'd see Soul Train, American Bandstand, and a PBS show with some guy painting, or a woman doing Yoga.

Time to turn off the TV and go read a book.

Nichevo म्हणाले...

Robert Marshall said...
As if the act of sharing the word-scramble answer with the contestants beforehand doesn't itself reinforce ideas of Black illiteracy!

As if this issue isn't addressed by just lying about it? Or by omission, by not disclosing this harsh truth, if we are being punctilious? I'm guessing they didn't disclose this transparently in the credits of every episode?

Just think how TV history would have changed if they'd just kept Charles Van Doren quiet about Twenty-One.

loudogblog म्हणाले...

DiscoLou likes.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'...who doubled down on the ideas of Black respectability and Black excellence as counters to the racial stereotypes that circulated widely in American media and popular culture.'

Respectability must be earned. Excellence must also be earned.

If I could wave a magic wand, the first thing (absent world peace or the cure for cancer) would be to revitalize the black middle class.

Millions of married black men and women heading off to work each day and coming home to the little house with the picket fence.

A chicken in every pot.

Crime would come down overnight and racism would drop precipitously...

But it's only a dream as long as democrats keep it from happening...

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days

guitar joe म्हणाले...

"Fernandinande said...
"Basic level" reading had an IQ cut-off of about 88.
"Proficient level" reading had an IQ cut-off of about 101.

Willing to bet this guy would tell you he's not a racist. I sometimes think Althouse created this site so we could see right wing stupidity out in the open.

Narr म्हणाले...

For William@1033 especially.

In the Vienna chapter of Peter Hall's "Cities in Civilization" he quotes a German visitor about 1840(?) decrying the waltz's "African" rhythm.

B/black or African American musical forms and artists just happen to be the most relatable, copyable, and exportable that the country has produced, despite 90% of it being crap.

Just like 90% of everything else.

EAB म्हणाले...

I was a middle-class suburban white girl (living in the East Bay of SF) who loved and watched Soul Train pretty much every week in the ‘70s. I also watched Bandstand but there was something about Soul Train I liked better. The music was better overall and Bandstand was bland in comparison. I’d completely forgotten about the word scramble bit. Great show.

Bilwick म्हणाले...

Guitar Joe, would that "right wing stupidity" you talk about be even more knuckleheaded than believing the State is our best friend? (Before you answer you might want to Google "Democide.")

walter म्हणाले...

Equity based pre-production.

Jim म्हणाले...

When I was a 3 day Jeopardy champion in 1989, we had lunch on the set of Soul Train which was taped next to the studio where Jeopardy was taped. The catered meals were great. I got to sit under one of the mirrored balls. It felt cool.

guitar joe म्हणाले...

"would that "right wing stupidity" you talk about be even more knuckleheaded than believing the State is our best friend? (Before you answer you might want to Google "Democide.")"

I think there's a difference between right wing and conservative, just as I believe there's a difference between progressive and liberal. And, when you quote IQ stats to prove the inherent inferiority of another group, you're a right wing racist, and a danger. The state, by the way, is a danger when it is too sharply left or right. I don't want to make a distinction between Hitler or Stalin, Pinochet or Ortega. All of them are bad.

Assistant Village Idiot म्हणाले...

They began assembling an approximation of "Lerone" immediately. Not a name that would immediately spring to mind for me. Even if I had figured that "Bennett" was likely, I would not likely have figured it out.

@ guitar Joe - the numbers are what they are, and it's not just the many IQ tests, but the SAT/ACT, ASVAB, PISA, GRE, LSAT, and yearly school tests. Calling names tends to be more intimidating to liberals. Conservatives, and especially libertarians, just shrug at that style of political argument.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Guitar Joe,

Are you saying IQ has nothing to do with reading ability?

gspencer म्हणाले...

"to guarantee that they wouldn’t show up on national television reinforcing ideas of Black illiteracy."

Hmmm, how has that worked out?

guitar joe म्हणाले...

"Why? IQ is the most studied and confirmed measure in social science. Why aren't we supposed to believe in science in this case?" Because social science is a soft science, and most conservatives have contempt for every other area of social science except the whole concept of IQ.

"There is a reason why Black culture devalues academic success." SOME of Black Culture devalues academic success. You'll see it in some areas of hip hop and other pop culture, but if you talk to actual African Americans, they would be much happier to see their kids succeed academically. I will hold white academicians responsible for trends that contribute to poor outcome in education among black kids. And, of course, it does play into the assumptions of white racists.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

I will hold white academicians responsible for trends that contribute to poor outcome in education among black kids.

Why? The vast majority of Black kids go to schools run by Black school boards, with Black administrators and teachers.

Every significant pathology in education today is caused by trying to improve the outcomes for Black kids without acknowledging the truth about their IQ and behavior.

Bilwick म्हणाले...

I really value guitar Joe's attacks on conservatives, because he obviously has studied conservative thought and literature.

guitar joe म्हणाले...

"I really value guitar Joe's attacks on conservatives, because he obviously has studied conservative thought and literature." I make a distinction between right wing and conservative. I should have cited right wingers rather than conservatives earlier, but conservatives are skeptical of much of social science (so am I), but they are enamored of standardized testing (I'm not).

guitar joe म्हणाले...

Gahrie: "Every significant pathology in education today is caused by trying to improve the outcomes for Black kids without acknowledging the truth about their IQ and behavior."

Good lord.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

Gahrie: "Every significant pathology in education today is caused by trying to improve the outcomes for Black kids without acknowledging the truth about their IQ and behavior."

Good lord.


Stop clutching your pearls and make an argument. If I'm so obviously a racist, it should be easy, even for you.