American Music and American Values/Beliefs through the Perception Lens

By Adam Martinez

A lot of people have different perceptions when it comes to American values and beliefs. First off, values and beliefs are two very different things, although a lot of folks tend to blend them together. Beliefs are statements or opinions that could be changed over time due to facts, a change in thinking, a friend convincing you that your belief is wrong, etc.… My point is that beliefs can be rather easy to change and manipulate. Values, on the other hand, are like strong convictions. It’s very hard to convince people to let go of what they value. Some people are willing to fight in order to protect what they value. For example, a couple weeks ago, the American government, a perfectly running government, was shut down due to government spending. It was mostly to the fact that our president wanting billions of dollars to go towards building a wall to protect our southern border. Our president valued this wall so much he was willing to let the government shut down for over 30 days since the two sides could never come up with a compromised. They were both dug so deep in their values that they weren’t willing to come together to create a game plan that satisfies both sides. This leaves me to believe that America has too many values, and that we should change our perceptions when it comes to what we think are our “values”. We should also take a look at how music has begun to divide our culture.

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My “perception” of the constitution of the United States is that it was originally written as beliefs that the founding fathers had to unite all its citizens as a whole union. Instead, over time we have turned those “beliefs” into values. The second amendment, for example, has been a big topic of discussion lately. The second amendment states that the people have the right to bear arms. America has one of the highest mass murder rates in the world, and a lot of it has to do with our very limited, or rather lack of, laws that have to do with gun control. One side of the government has the perception that the laws we have towards gun control today are “good enough” since they basically allow easy access to a range of guns. They also believe that limiting guns won’t change anything that is happening today. The other side, however, has a different way of looking at it. They don’t think our gun control laws are as strict as they should be and that higher gun laws will lower our murder rate while also keeping us safe. In the music video for “This is America” by Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), after he uses a gun, he sets it on a nice piece of cloth to be kept safe, while the dead body behind him is just dragged away. I believe this is symbolism for how he, Donald Glover, believes guns are being perceived by most Americans, which is that we are more protective of the guns than we are of the people that are being affected by them. With that being said, the real problem is that the people on both sides of the argument are dug so deep in their values that they aren’t willing to listen to each other to come up with a compromise. One side values our right to having guns, while the other values trying to keep the lives of our citizens safe by limiting the type of guns that should be sold to the public, as well as who should be able to purchase them. This type of conflict is true for many issues.

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The general American value is the “American Dream.” According to historian James Truslow Adams, the “American Dream” is the “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” This “hope” for a better life in America is the primary reason for why so many people from other countries immigrate to America since many of their countries are in dismay and don’t show any “hope” of a “better and richer and fuller” life for anyone living in those conditions. This perception that all people who live in America are equally given an opportunity to live a “better life” is not entirely true. Although we, and many people around the world, believe so because we value this “better and richer” life and ignore everything that points to it not being the case. According to Caroline Fairchild of the “HuffPost,” a recent survey showed that 80% of respondents said the “American Dream” only consisted of a home. This was FAR from what the “American Dream” was supposed to be. Also from the survey, only 43% of survey respondents said the “American Dream” was even possible. Again, FAR from the “better life” for “everyone.” So, after digesting all the information, this “American Dream” should not be perceived as a “value”, as it is simply almost impossible to achieve. Instead, it’s more of a “belief” that everyone SHOULD be able to achieve this life of riches and opportunity.

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According to a 2014 study, 93% of Americans listen to music, averaging around 25 hours a week. But, instead of focusing on how long or how much music we listen to, we should really start focusing on WHAT music we are listening to. Race has a huge effect on music. If you look at the artists who make country music for example, they are predominately white. While as if you look at hip-hop/rap, they are predominately African American. It’s our perception that white men can’t rap and African Americans can’t make country music. However, it’s actually not impossible to be successful if you’re a white man that raps, or a black man who sings country music. In particular, country music has been known to have a background of racism as it has been nicknamed “white power music.” Some songs mention racism in their lyrics. In Brad Paisley’s “Accidental Racist” song, he states to a person of a different race in his lyrics that “I’m just a white man comin’ to you from the southland tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be.” In one of Kendrick Lamar’s songs, he states that “Racism is still alive, yellow tape and colored lines.” In Joyner Lucas’s “I’m not Racist”, the song is basically a tense conversation between a black man and a white man. The white man is trying to explain why he’s “not racist”, even though some of his reasoning isn’t very logical to many. Last, but certainly not least, Rick Ross even states in his song “Mercy” that “Like racism, I’mma be around.” All these are clear signs that racism is a big topic in music. It’s crazy how two different genres of music can have such different audiences, both who listen and who make them. Music, in my opinion, has the least amount of diversity within the platform. However, over the past decade or so, it’s gotten better. More white hip-hop artists are finding success, such as Eminem and Sam Adams, and African American artists are finding success in country, such as Darius Rucker.

Our perceptions of important American “values”, as well as how we perceive music need to change. We need to find ways to compromise, to listen to others, and to be willing to change our values, especially ones that shouldn’t be values. If we continue digging deep into our “values”, and believing that we can’t sing a specific genre of music because of other people’s perceptions, the standoffs and the arguments will continue, and we will have to accept the consequences.  

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