Goodrich 1
The African American culture faces many racial issues that shapes the overall
quality of life for the majority of the people that make up their culture. Why are African
Americans so commonly perceived to be something that they are not? There is far too
much racial discrimination in America. Black Americans are deprived of many things
based on the color of their skin. I interviewed an African American man named James
Derrickson, who was not only a musician, but a performer as well. James gave me his
perspective of the conflicting racial issues in the world. He also gave me a good insight
of his life and how his race was a major contender in his opportunities. There are so
many stereotypes that go into not only being an African American, but also being an
African American performer/musician. James said that it is common for people to
perceive you as something you are not. Through interviewing James Derrickson I found
that racial profiling has played a major role in why his life lead in the direction that it did.
Interview:
James father was a very talented athlete, being drafted by the dodgers, but came
short of being able to play. This was because it wasn’t the best timing in 1958, not
because of his age but because of the time he lived in. Blacks were highly scrutinized if
they attempted to play baseball in that day and age. The Vietnam War which began in
58 drafted his father as well which kept him from playing professional baseball. He
arrived when the war was basically over, and upon returning he had chosen to settle
down and start a family instead of going down the baseball route. Although James
received his father’s athletic gene, but he also inherited his mother’s ability to sing.
James was talented at sports, playing for his high school team, but he took his singing
ability to a whole new level.
Goodrich 2
James Derrickson, is African American man born in 1960, and raised in Danville,
Illinois. When James was a child he enjoyed doing all of the regular things young boys
love to do. James played any sport, loved spending time with friends, and chasing girls
then James found music. James quickly picked up on playing music, and in only third
grade was capable of playing the bass guitar, guitar, drums, and violin. James gave up
the violin in high school because he thought it wasn’t the sort of instrument for a strong
athlete. Though James had a lot of good times in his childhood he also had minor
setbacks that were considered to be just a part of normal life in Danville. Growing up in
a rough neighborhood was hard for James at times. Danville was predominantly
populated by white people. With 62% Caucasian, 30% African American, and the other
8% is a diverse group. This made for an asymmetric social class. the a population of
only about 30,000 people.(US Census Bureau) James grew up not worried about
racial differences, and they didn’t play any role in how he viewed people.
When James grew to be a young adult he was bound to be a pop musician. He
would hang out at a music house around the corner from where he lived. Sitting around
listening to the pop music bands motivated him to learn how to play the base lines
because the bass was his favorite instrument at the time. One of the bands decided that
their bass player was a better front man, so they were in need of a new bass line player.
The band was at the verge of breaking up when their drummer mentioned that he knew
James had potential with the bass so they invited him to come and play for them. James
played an assortment of songs for them, and they knew that they had to have him in the
band. He started playing with them, but soon enough he was so good that they were
considered to be playing with him. As he grew up playing he began to see that no one in
Goodrich 3
his home town were playing instruments anymore. Everyone wanted to rap. So started
looking for somewhere else he could play his music.
James lived in Danville until the age of 32. He found his way to Utah through a friend
who he played in a group while growing up. His friend had knowledge of job openings in
the Utah valley. They wanted to get away from the suppressive demographics that they
grew up in. After job surfing for a while James began face some racial problems. When
he was about 33 years old he was looking for a job out in Utah. His friend put in a good
word to a man he knew was looking to hire a new employee. James spoke on the
phone to the man who was offering him the job, and he was very adamant on hiring him
because of he had such great references. James said that the job wasn’t for him, it’s
just not his style of work, but the man convinced him to come in for an interview. James
eventually went to an interview, and then the man saw James in person for the first
time, and then he seemed to find any reason possible to deny him the job. The man
offering James the job only spent thirty minutes taking him around the building showing
him how he wouldn’t be able to do the job. Then took him into his office and told James
that he was afraid that the man’s job he would be taking would sew him for age
discrimination. Because of certain experiences in his life James has shaped his beliefs.
He has come to the conclusion that he is over people who look at him and judge him
because of the color of his skin. He mentioned that there was plenty of good people out
there, so why even bother with the ones that aren’t good for you.
James was always very talented at singing and preforming, but he never really did
any of that until later in life. James became more in tune with making, and preforming
his own music, and became a very talented vocalist, and an amazing lyrical writer.
Goodrich 4
Recording a total of three albums: The Blues In Me, Listen, Strange Mood, and has
made a one hit wonder, Turn Me On, with the group named Power House.
When James gets hired to perform at a new venue he walks up on stage, and
everyone looks at him like it is going to be a rap concert. There was an incident where
there was a Utah Ute game on one of the nights he was booked to perform. The owner
of the sports bar said that James could set up so he could play at halftime, and play
through the night once the game ends. People were giving him looks like, if you start
playing we are out of here. But after he played a man approached him and said, “Hey
man, my wife really enjoyed what you had to play. We don’t like rap.” He looked at the
man and all he said was I don’t like rap either man.
Through playing music James feels he has broken a boundary with people. Music is
something that everyone enjoys, and he can open up his own personality once there is
a common ground between them. This really changes people’s point of view on African
Americans. Once people hear his music they get past the boundary of race.
James believes there are a lot of black people in the world who think similar to the
way he does. Media is a big enemy in a lot of different issues in today’s world,
especially regarding racial issues. He said there seems to be a lot more to talk about
when there is something bad happening rather than something good. If one person
does something bad it impacts the majority greatly. The minority is louder than the
majority is what he told me.
When discussing music he claimed the blues originated in the United States it
belongs to America. His form of progressive blues is far different from the old blues. He
Goodrich 5
said that music is constantly evolving, and there are so many different types of blues,
that people have conflicting feelings over what is considered blues.
The African American’s cultural music is based off of the blues, jazz, R/B, soul, and
rhythmic blues. His personal preference on the matter is that he likes pop and R/B, but
he only says that because he is able to perform them the best. He says that more black
people preform those types of music than others.
James plays several Bob Marley songs, and commented on Bob Marley talking
about how he thought Bob saw the music through his eyes. James said, Bob Marley
was raised in a place where there is a lot of oppression, music tends to be a release
from that kind of life style. By writing most of his songs with a very good vibe feeling he
is able to get away from the streets he lived on in his own way. Buffalo Soldier is a piece
of music that relates to the racial issues that James has faced throughout his life.
Social issue:
When interview James Derrickson I found a lot of commonalities between the
racial issues that James has had to deal with in his life, and the racial issues that
happen every day in the United States. The African American workforce has struggled
far more than Caucasian workforce. Christen E. Weller states in the article, The Black
and White Labor Gap in America.
Most recently, the black unemployment rate averaged 16.1 percent in
April, May, and June 2011, compared to an average of 7.9 percent for
whites in the same period (Weller).
Goodrich 6
This statistics are alarming, and racial profiling plays a part in this statistic. Racial
profiling plays is a serious problem in the United States, and many African-Americans
believe will never be solved because it stems from past racism. James told me the story
where he was begged to come work for an employer, a job and when the employer saw
that he was black his opinion on him entirely changed. A similar company to the man’s
who insisted he wouldn’t be able to uphold the job, and has went on to work for them for
more than thirty years. This cannot be an isolated incident, and if this is happening all
over the United States there is no wonder there is such a large gap between black and
white unemployment rates.
Racial stereotyping is a very common problem especially people of a lower social
class. With all humans having an everlasting drive to self-actualize causes them to act
as a sponge (Stuwe). Constantly trying to gain insight from other people’s perspectives
(Green). Racial stereotyping reminded me of back when Seattle Seahawk cornerback
Richard Sherman made a crucial defensive play that won them his team the game.
Sherman was interviewed after the game having made very loud and proud remarks
(Greenburg). He was later called a thug by several reporting agencies. Richard
Sherman had a follow up interview regarding his interview during the post-game, and he
said, "It's like everyone else said the N-word and they said 'Thug' and they're like, 'Ah,
that's fine.' That's where it kind of takes me aback and it's kind of disappointing."
Richard Sherman doesn’t have the same attitude as James Derrickson, James
faced racial stereotyping when preforming his music. People look at him differently
because of the stereotyping they think of him to be something he is not. This is a very
similar situation to the stereotyping that Richard Sherman faced. He plays professionally
Goodrich 7
he is supposed to be passionate about the game. Richard is a Stanford Graduate, and
does a multitude of charity work. Which doesn’t seem to be the characteristics of a
‘thug’. Both James and Richard having been in similar situations, both went about
handling them by answering with very astonished like. Racial stereotyping has become
a very unintentional problem, with people being very offensive and not realizing they
are.
(Just havn’t finished this section yet I need to research more into bob marley)
Music:
Bob Marley is up to this day still influential through the harmony of his music, and
the overall persona of living in a life with no fear. Northern Indian musician Hazrat Inayat
Khan, the founder of the Sufi Order once said,
Music raises the soul of man even higher than the so-called external form
of religion…That is why in ancient times the greatest prophets were great
musicians.
(I don’t know where I can fit this in but I need to somewhere. I need to bring up
something about how racial issues affected the structure of his life to get all the point
on the rubric.)
James life structure is challenging at times for him because he has a white wife. His
father’s side of the family is very open minded, but on the other hand his mom’s side
Goodrich 8
is a very close minded group of people. This makes it hard because he has to pick
and choose who he is willing to bring his wife around because he doesn’t want her to
feel uncomfortable. He said that you cannot pick your family, your family is who they
are weather that be good or bad.
Interview
A. Most of James family history wasn’t passed down through the generations
of his family, but he did say that his family has lived in the United States
for over a century.
1. James wasn’t sure of how his ancestors entered the United States.
I.
Social issues
A. There was a man James was interviewed by, and James isn’t naive about
the racial part of his life. He arrived to the first day of his job, and they then
told him that the job opening had closed. He said that I could make of that
what I will. So obviously there was a racial reason as to why he didn’t
receive the job as promised. This made him unable to take on that role in
his life.
II.
Music
Goodrich 9
A. The blues, jazz, R/B, soul, and rhythmic blues are all types of music than
represent James culture. His personal preference on the matter is that he
likes pop, R/B, but he only says that because he is able to perform them
the best. Also more black people preform those types of music than
others.
B. Buffalo Soldier
C.
D. Music was always something that came easy to James so he was able to
jump into it very easily. From playing ever since he was a child to
preforming for people in concert just goes to show how great James really
is. He also has written and performed 3 albums. He said that it seemed to
be in his blood. Even when he was a child it came easy to him.
III.
Bibliography