DICK CLARK

Emblem of Our Black/White Divide?

Our Yin-Yang Media reported yesterdy that Dick is dead at 82.  They all gush about his career and his role as an emblem for teenagers and rock and roll.  For me and my generation, not-so-much.

There was a baby-boom also on the black side of our racial divide.  That divide was held in place by government laws enforcing segregation.  The baby-boom kids, 8 years younger than me, took our heritage blues and big band gifts and transformed them into what they called rock and roll, based on lyrics of old blues tunes.  We also formed a national trend of "hit records", many of them supporting a new dance step, like the boog-aloo, shing-a-ling, the twist, the shot-gun -- the list was very long. 

By law and custom, that music, called "race-music" was banned from the radio, except for stations like WLAC in Tennessee and "Randy's" from Del-Rio, Texas.  We had to tune in after sun-down to catch the long wave and hear the latest tunes.  The 45 rpm recording was our "I-Phone". 

As a teenager in the 1950's, I was able to convince KDRO in my town to let me announce the "teen news" from our side of the tracks.  I noticed all of the records that I stayed up late to listen to, were thrown in the corner and marked "race-music".  They were banned.  I asked if I could have them, they agreed, and I still have nearly a thousand of those "45's".

The white kids from the other side of the tracks heard this music and wanted it.  Some sneaked the recordings home, under risk of a "hiding" from their parents for listening to the "devil's music".

Then hucksters like Clark and Freed entered the picture and decided they could rip off the trend, but keep it white.  There were "cover" recordings of white artists who could get airing.  As the phenomenon grew, it made its way from radio to television.  Again, white only.  Dick, and others, were very good at playing the divide to their advantage.

As we emtered the 60's, it became clear that there were huge dollars in this game for whites, but little or nothing for the black artists or the black communities in general.  The struggle to "integrate" was underway by then and the kids were eager to get on T.V., both as dancers and as performers.  The resistance was so stiff, and lasted so long, that a black alternative, called Soul Train was created.

The world knows what happened when the Brits caught wind of this phenomenon.  Their mop-heads flopped when they made their first invasion; were sent home, re-packaged, and you know the rest of that story.

So, R.I.P., Dick, at least some of us know the true story.

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