History / popular culture (Essay Sample)

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History/ popular culture
Multicultural associations are becoming increasingly a concern for most countries that experienced movements that expand or protect minority rights. Increasing militancy of Bottomore (378) acknowledge that African American development efforts in the 1960s and 1970s, gained salience, in the United States. Other countries also defied demands from the minorities in culturally and racially varied population. The nations experienced speedy changes in racial-ethnic arrangement because of immigration. In the late twentieth century some multi-ethnic confederations disintegrated. Other nations struggled in varied ways in dissimilar degree of progress to get solutions to issues relating to cultural and racial diversity (Boyd 127). The paper shows Black popular culture in the late 1960s and 1970s reflect the intensity of struggle for Civil Rights during the period. Additionally, the new Black popular culture draws stereotype representations of African-Americans in white popular culture.
Massive and sustained civil rights protests marked the start of leading transformation racial advancement schemes in appreciating racial and race association (Berlatsky 97). Landau (42) says prior to 1960s, interethnic and interracial associations depended on behaviour patterns and racial-ethnic values. In the United States, anti-black racism was due to resistant to change. White racial bigotry was the leading obstacle to black progression and racial discrimination was against the conventional popular values of American belief.
Oliver C. Cox a black Marxist sociologist plus other scholars interrogated Myrdal’s focus on attitudinal factors. Black popular culture is not independent of the American culture. The culture is development of some distorted American culture (The Funk Era and Beyond 561). Racial and race associations attracted attention on race dealings in black-white associations. In 1950s and 1960s, there were sustained African American protest movements that undermined the existing issues on racial relations (In Search of the Black 578). The protests revealed impending strength of black-white encounter in the United States (Bottomore 374). African Americans received strength on racial identity feelings. Additionally, the protests raised various consequences of mixed associations in contemporary societies. Leading civil rights protests and development of African American rights plus mass movements led to reforms. The reforms can foster novel types of collective consciousness and intercultural conflict among the African Americans varied groups (Weems 32).
Brown decision saw the culmination of years of various efforts to change the existing climate regarding Americans civil rights litigation and racial matters. Various individuals defied Jim Crow system of segregation and discrimination. The decision by the Supreme Court in 1955 to enforce Brown decision, made the southern white officials to be obstinate (Dawson 291). They hoped the decisions will postpone the integration at the public schools. The southern resisted federal court decisions and Dwight D. Eisenhower government showed lukewarm support for the decisions. This made the African Americans to urge the federal government into action (Bogle, et al 210). Black-white associations in the late 1950s climate change were manifested by Montgomery, Alabama, success, among other factors.
Martin Luther King Jr. led the Montgomery protest. However, the 1960s, African American protest movement was not under the centralized leadership (Van Deburg 78). The movements developed goals which went past the rights legislation.
African American in the ‘Golden Age’ which is the period in history, where artistic and movement great achievements were realized. Bottomore (389) say this was in the 1960s and saw the beginning of African Americans in television. President of CBS, Frank Stanton, in July 1964, called broadcasters to start massive and continuous editorial crusade (Mercer 79). This was to support the civil rights crusade. Stanton in an address at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism addressing the national Broadcast Editorial Conference called for advocacy and commitment in civil rights call. The voting rights Act of 1964, was a marking point in the history of African American in the United States (Kraszweski 61). Stanton also called on the television to exploit their editorial strength imaginatively, bodily, and with wisdom and insight.
The speech of Stanton marked a significant point in revealing the involvement and sensitivity that TV can play in civil rights movement. Additionally, TV could help to support racial reforms. The late 1960s saw change in the complexion of TV. Bogle et al (198) opine this reflected the industry changes brought by legal and social movements, which pushed civil rights. Few network sponsored channels are headed by black actors. This same applies even in the contemporary world. The few serious African entertainers like Billy Daniels, and Nat King Cole have gain little popularity (Boyd 129). Few successful programs like the ‘Beulah and Amos ‘n’ Andy’ amused people and it was viable for some seasons. Nonetheless, there was resurrection of some minstrel-show stereotypes that were abandoned due to the World War II (Women of Blaxploitation 576).
Adelt (198) notes in the second half of 1960s, various programs featured black actors as main characters. Some of the programs had blacks in regular supporting and prominent roles. Additionally, in commercial of the TV, various series received inadequate success; however, they were swiftly cancelled (The Colored Cartoon 195). There were also some programs that received favourite ratings that lasted for some years. In this period, the programs compared to those in the earlier decades were free of racial stereotyping (Berlatsky 99).
The period affected the history of blacks in American television. ‘I Spy’ was a crucial series in the period. This program premiered in 1965 (Kraszweski 56). The program was co-starred by Bill Cosby and Robert Culp (Kronengold 29). The program capitalized on the leading interest of espionage dramas that saw success in the period. It was the first network drams that had an African-American star. Moreover, the program was a milestone for the blacks. This was an educational experience for the blacks and white audience. African-American were able to operate constructively in the United States.
The character of Cosby was equal to the task and had encounters with head of state, foreign agents, beautiful women, among others. His character was different from the ones exhibited in the early 1970s (Boyd 129). On other hand, Alexander Scott, was a mature and real human character. He was capable of expressing and feeling the emotions of historically prohibited black characters in the leading entertainment media. There is an episode that Cosby kissed a Japanese woman. This indicated a revolutionary act, which was beyond the extraordinary borders recognized for blacks in television. In 1967, Cosby’s part in the ‘Laya’ episode was another milestone (Adelt 201). The mainstream radio, TV, and film conventionally ruled out physical expressions of interracial embracing, kissing, romance, and other signs of affection. These were proscribed between black women and men too. Therefore, the incident where Scott romanced Laya by caressing, kissing, and touching her, indicated another hurdle for black artistic and social expression (Berlatsky 98).
African American recognizable and recurring stereotypes are evident in the contemporary world. The stereotypes are in the form of persons, which have a predictable appearance. Quinn (156) notes this expresses the anticipated words and thoughts that indicate the predictable actions and behaviours. In the nineteenth-century, the cultural artifacts introduced stereotypes that encompass minstrel plays, show, poetry, autobiographies,...