Even President Clinton warned the music industry of “the consequences of producing violent music,” and asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into the advertising practices of the entertainment industry as a whole in an attempt to “smoke out” the Joe Camel of music, much like had happened to the Tobacco Industry two years earlier (Nuzum 47). The entertainment had become the prime suspect, taking more flak than the parents of the two boys. It seemed that many people came to the conclusion that the parents couldn’t be expected to raise their children, and the only way this tragedy could’ve only been avoided had the boys received less exposure to violent music and videogames. Thus, in an effort to prevent something of this nature from happening again, a movement began to remove these questionable things from the homes of all Americans. Protest groups followed Marilyn Manson like a lemming does its instincts, the band KMFDM received more exposure than it ever had, and many schools banned anything Goth-related. A student in Salt Lake City was expelled for wearing a shirt with the word “Vegan” on it because school officials feared this militant belief in not eating meat was very similar to gang activity.

To add insult to the whole situation, it was later revealed that the two boys didn’t even like Marilyn Manson or his music. They thought he was lame.

We applaud the creation of a bomb whose sole purpose is to destroy all of man-

White performers fared much better, with a new teen-heartthrob appearing every day, playing songs written by dozens of black performers who had sold the rights to them. That’s not to say that all white performers were merely cheap impersonators, though. Many white performers, such as Buddy Holley, Bill Haley, and Jerry Lee Lewis, played as vital of roles in the development of rock music as the black performers like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Little Richard, who all managed to break through the racial barrier into mainstream success. They were the lucky ones. One of the main reasons used in the effort to destroy rock music was the common opinion that it would cause racial mixing and “mongrelize” America. There are so many levels, genres, and versions of rock that this mixing, while certainly not a bad thing, was inevitable. Part “high culture” (Pink Floyd, Genesis), part “folk culture” (Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan), rock could appeal to all and open the doors to a mutual understanding of cultures (Epstein 5).

Of course, racism didn’t start with rock music. During the time between the Civil War and World War I, a number of songs like “Hottest Coon in Dixie,” “The Wedding of the Chinee and the Coon,” and “All Coons Look Alike to Me” (which, oddly enough, was written by a black composer) became popular not just in the South, but throughout the entire United States. The composing abilities of blacks can’t be doubted, as many songs written by them became very popular, but only when played by white bandleaders. In 1952, labels grossed more than $15 million in sales from black R&B music; almost none of that money went into the hands of the people who created the music. Song composers were usually paid less than $10 and did not receive additional royalties or bonuses.

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