My Hometown

Springsteen, Bruce. "My Hometown." By Bruce Springsteen. Rec. 04 June 1984. Born in the USA. Sony.

I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair, say son take a good look around this is your hometown
This is your hometown, This is your hometown, This is your hometown

In `65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown, My hometown, My hometown

Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown
Your hometown, Your hometown, Your hometown

Last night me and Kate we laid in bedtalking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around
This is your hometown


The song My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen is one of the few songs I have heard that directly deals with the issue of racial tension and violence.

The song is very simplistic, and is devoid of the wailing guitars and staccato drum beats typical to Springsteen’s catalogue. With a feeling of innocence and delicateness, he tells a story about the lives of average people living in New Jersey cities like Bayonne, Trenton, and Asbury Park. The second verse is where Springsteen confronts head on racial tensions of the mid 1960’s. He states that fights between black and whites were common in his High School, and even alludes to exchanges of gunfire. The verse includes a definitive statement that any intervention was indeed futile.

I am struck by all the elements present in this song that influence race. The irrationalism of youth, the struggle of classes, economic factors such as excess labor in a depressed economy, as well as the power of tradition and upbringing are all present in this fine ballad.

The song connects to any number of different pieces of coursework. The lyrics and Takaki’s “the giddy multitude” chapter remind me of the way the ethnic groups react in a tight labor market where jobs are scarce as detailed in verse three. The first person narrative reminds me of the way Kindred was written, and just as the book was a window to life in the 1800’s this song is a window to life in the 1960’s. I am also reminded by the last verse of Johnson’s fundamental reasoning for privilege or lack there of. The family clearly was of without much privilege, and was forced to deal with the circumstances as best as they could.

I really enjoy Springsteen’s commentary on social issues. He is remarkably talented at presenting complex issues in simple and easy to understand ways. Beyond the single My Hometown, Springsteen devotes entire albums like Nebraska and the Ghost of Tom Joad to dealing with social and ethnic injustice, and I challenge anyone to listen to the lyrics of Born in the USA and explain why the song was hailed as a patriotic anthem.

Uncle Ruckus

Magruder, Aaron. "The Boondocks." Comic Strip. Various Newspapers.

This blog is about Uncle Ruckus who is a character in the comic strip The Boondocks as well as the television show based on the comic strip on the Cartoon Network. I chose this character because he is remarkably complex from an ethnic point of view.

Uncle Ruckus is a large black man living in the suburban town of Woodcrest. He is outspoken and opinioned about black people. Uncle Ruckus appears throughout the series of episodes as an antagonist for the racial activist main character Huey Freeman. He rises in strong support of Jim Crow laws, professes his devotion to and admiration of the white race, and is not above hurling bricks at civil rights leaders.

I tried to get my arms around this character. At first I thought he was a male version of the “mammy” character we say in the film “Ethnic Notions.” He clearly has many of the characteristics of the stereotype, such as unattractiveness and is overweight. After some contemplation I feel that the male mammy notion is only superficial.

When introducing himself he says his name is “Uncle Ruckus, no relation.” This would denote that there is no familial bond and in-turn is a tacit acceptance of the racist title. As a student of ethnicity I find this interesting. The overall philosophy of the Boondocks is to confront racial stereotypes head on and then make fun of them, but why slip in the racist meaning? I think it is for people who have the sort of knowledge we are learning in this very class, and I think it is an intellectual way of inserting meaning into a show that can be considered silly.

On reflection of the character of Uncle Ruckus, I am still wondering what he means to me. I laugh at his antics because they are so far over the line. I struggle to see the creator’s message hidden in this character, but I know that it is there. I do feel that I am much closer to seeing the overall meaning behind this character, and he has challenged me to not give up on the quest to find the answers.

Sopranos Episode 45

"Episode 45 "Everybody Hurts"" The Sopranos. HBO.

Transcript: http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/episode/season4/episode42.shtml

I chose this episode of the Sopranos because it portrays two rival ethnic groups in a struggle to express what they both think is right.

The story starts with a group of Native Americans planning to disrupt the Columbus Day parade in an undisclosed northern New Jersey city. Soprano family Consigliore Silvio Dante, rallies a group of fellow made men and Vesuvio restaurant owner Arthur Bucco in an effort to stage a counter protest. The two rival ethnic groups clash and the Italian faction is driven off. One of the group members receives a severe head injured from a thrown beer bottle.

The episode reminded me of Chapter 3 of Ronald Takaki’s “A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.” In the reading Takaki outlines how the upper class managed to pit the lower classes against themselves, specifically the black slaves and the white non-property owners. Although the book makes a direct connection between the manipulators and the manipulated, the episode is without a direct higher power “pulling the strings” of the two groups. Both groups do indeed exist under an unnamed upper class that benefits from class rivalries and keeps the groups distracted and thusly unable to turn their attention to challenging the power of the upper class.

Zinn made the strong case that Columbus couldn’t really have “discovered” America if the Native Americans were already here, but the holiday is really only meant to celebrate the origins of our nation much like Independence Day. Both groups have warped the definition of Columbus Day into something it was never really meant to be. The Italians have in recent years made Columbus Day into a uniquely Italian holiday, much like the Irish have made St Patrick’s Day a uniquely Irish holiday. The Native Americans seem to have made Columbus Day into the anti-Native American holiday.

Interestingly the episode doesn’t just highlight rival ethnic groups, but it also details some inter-group prejudices. While the mobsters are formulating a strategy for confronting the Native Americans, they launch into a diatribe about Northern Italian people. The mobsters express their distain for the Columbus because he was a northerner.

Overall I am quite impressed by the scope and breadth of the ethnic issues portrayed in the Sopranos episode. The writers certainly made insightful observations not present in regular television programming. In regards to the issues raised in the episode, both groups should take a step back and understand that the celebration of our countries origins is not meant to honor or dishonor any particular group. All of the participants (except Furio, a native of Italy) were born in this country and share the title of Americans.