The Beat Goes On

I think this is a fascinating debate between two of the smartest, most humane writers in America, discussing the social and political implications of hip-hop. They come from different vantage points as you’ll see, but at the end of the day, they are both very much interested in ensuring that people get a fair shake in American society.

Beyond the minutiae of the debate itself, however, I think there is a profound symbolism at work here that explodes what can be a dangerous assumption often made in our political discourse. People will often speak in broad terms like the ‘Black Community’ (or the ‘Hispanic Community’, ‘Jewish Community’ etc.), connoting that there is some tangible, overarching idea of the collective that supplants the opinions and desires of the individuals that constitute them. There are certainly times when this is important and useful (the abuses of privileged groups in America have long made it necessary for the dispossessed to organize around the very shared, communal labels that have been defined against them), but just as easily I think people can get caught up in trying to milk these identity labels for more than they’re worth.

Human beings contain multitudes, operate in worlds with vast layers of gray, and generally oscillate between the various identities that, taken together, create that incredibly difficult patchwork of notions which define the self. So when we try to let social constructions speak on other people’s behalf, there is always the risk that we confuse as much as we illuminate. Both Coates and McWhorter represent very different political positions and lenses which focus their respective thinking, even if they both belong to the ‘Black Community’.