Most of you will have seen this fine Slate article praising Stevie Wonder for his boycott of Florida as long as the ‘Stand your Ground’ law is in place. It starts by pointing out the paradox of the position of African Americans in the US society: American music (and one might add, sports) has been dominated by African Americans for decades, which means that a small group of African Americans are among the most respected and praised citizens of the country, and yet as a group African Americans suffer systematic injustice and exclusion at several levels. (Recall for example that they constitute an absolutely disproportionate percentage of the prison population.)
This means that a few prominent African Americans such as Stevie Wonder may be in a position to campaign (and be heard) against the systematic exclusion of African Americans, and in particular to hit the establishment where it hurts: hit them with music, or more precisely with the lack thereof. Such a simple and yet coherent idea: as long as some segments of the population do not treat African Americans with respect, they don’t get to enjoy their music either. It’s only fair!
(As if anyone needed additional reasons to love Stevie Wonder… And I’m happy to report that he is fast becoming one of my daughters’ favorite singers, thus creating a bit of a family tradition to be proud of. Unfortunately, I don't know how to embed videos as well as Jon Cogburn, but here below one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs, 'Another Star'.)
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