The Effect of the Rock & Roll on the American Civil Rights Movement (Essay Sample)

American Civil Rights Movement and the Rock and Roll: A Look into 1950s and 1960s
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American Civil Rights Movement and the Rock and Roll: A Look into 1950s and 1960s
In the days of 1950-60, rock and roll evolved and it opposed the racial discrimination and the complex race relations that were eating the USA to its core. It gradually became associated with the civil rights movement. The language, the tone, the flow of the music stood against discriminating issues. On a whole, the civil rights movement and the race relations issue had a huge impact on rock and roll, and the vice versa. Therefore, it is extremely important to discuss and assess how these things changed the scenario of the USA to make it an integrated nation. This paper intends to have an in-depth look at the aspects and factors that shaped the civil rights movement which in turn influenced the rock and roll culture.
It is clearly known to all that rock and roll is one of the most popular and influencing genres of the music. It brought with it a change of fresh air. The change was evident as rock and roll got highly involved with the struggle and lifestyle of the common people throughout the whole world and the USA in particular. The civil rights movement became an integral part of this music genre. Rock and roll began to strongly address the issues of race relations. During the period of 1950-60, it became quite clear that issues like race relations and civil rights movement were creating huge impact over rock and roll.
Rock and roll immensely evolved during the time of 1950-60. The USA was experiencing a turbulent time when the entire society was going through a change. The African-Americans always suffered from domination by the whites. In most parts of the nation, the blacks were deprived of various civil rights and other legal rights. The issue of equality was a much discussed and analyzed topic. The blacks started to realize that the whites were illegally and wrongly dominating them. A major portion of the white community sympathized with them. They decided to fight along with the blacks for the assurance and security of the fundamental civil rights. This change was evident in the field of art, especially music. The evolution of the rock and roll music is the result of this change. Earlier, many songs ridiculed and made fun of the blacks. As the momentum changed, singers started to sing songs that convey the message of equality in terms of civil rights. These songs intended to build a strong relation among the races. The evolutionary singers and the right-minded songs were recorded and released so that those could open the complex knot of the racial relations.
The class value system was present in the USA. But the new culture of the rock and roll started to threaten its base. The rock and roll music was closely linked to sexuality. This genre of music also advocated for the racial mingling of the blacks and the whites. The white adults got afraid of these facts. They started missions and took stern steps to choke the open voice of the rock and roll. They looked upon these songs as a violation of their traditional values and strategies that were fundamentally hollow and illogical. But they failed to do so. The rage and the intensity of the civil rights movement were so huge that it overcame and conquered all the barriers in its path CITATION DeC92 \l 1033 (DeCurtis, Henke, & George-Warren, 1992). More and more people started to associate themselves with this movement that demanded equal rights and recognition for all the races. The impact of this change had a huge impact on the social relations, social values, and systems. But, it also simultaneously affected the music industry and the Rock and Roll in particular. Singers from various races started to come forward with songs that opposed all kinds of discrimination, stood against any incident or issue that violated the common civil rights, and strongly supported racial mingling. There are a lot of singers and a number of songs that were written and sung addressing any particular incident or issue that could stir the whole nation.
The artists integrated to strengthen the civil rights movement. It was noteworthy to see that not only the black singers came forward to say their hearts but also the singers from the white community supported this movement in their own typical way and style -- openness and aggression. Chuck Berry became a pop music icon. Little Richard gained immense popularity among all type of audiences. As the movement progressed, the young generation began to integrate them into the rock and roll culture. Various authorities also responded positively to such situation. But, the majority of the whites were still against any racial integration. They responded negatively, attacked the concerts, attacked the authorities and even killed people. We can assess the situation from various songs. Bob Dylan was an advocate for the social change and he immensely contributed to its success. His songs were directed at the tyranny of the social system. Dylan's Oxford Town is a remarkable song that responds to the social unrest of that time ( Benyon, 2014) . In 1962, a black student named James Meredith was enrolled at the University of Mississippi. This triggered rage and anger among the white community. They started to protest against this integration. Dylan's song properly addresses and responds to this situation. He throws questions to the majority community. He asks if the brown colored skin of James is the only reason behind this protest. He also says that these opposing actions of the whites have not helped the town of Oxford to enhance its fame, but these have rather diminished its prestigious status CITATION Bob05 \l 1033 (Dylan, 2005). The lyrics of the song is directly focused on the community who were trying to oppress racial integration. The tone was simple yet aggressive. This incident is considered as a notable incident in American history. Dylan has successf...