I don't think Dr King would be too thrilled about being associated with a song that ends up promoting wild conspiracy theories and racial paranoia.

There's enough social injustice to deal with in the real world without adding imaginary injustices.

wildsign said:

Let's also consider that the world would be a different place, with different ideas if MLK, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, etc were alive. It's the butterfly effect but in politics and the social scene. If those people, ALL of those people, were still alive, I don't think President Obama would be the first black President. Really. ChemTrails? That's Prince and Dick Gregory. (And WTF is with Prince being a big conspiracy theorist anyway?)

wildsign said:

Interesting question, indeed...

I think he would say that if Prince never knew he was different until he saw Dr. King lying in a pool of blood...he was lucky to grow up where he did.

wildsign said:

Being the respected man Dr. King was by many, I doubt if he would have been offended, by Prince's lyrics, as being a man of color himself, he would have automatically understood where Prince was coming from. Also, Dr. King dealt with Malcolm X, and Malcolm X had some conspiracy theories of his own, so I seriously doubt Prince's lyrics would have bothered Dr. King at all. I find that many people seem to get in a twist. when fingers are pointed at America's wrongs or its past, regardless of the freedoms many Americans have in this country, it doesn't discount the fact that America has a violent history and still has many injustices happening within its systems as well. Prince is not the only artist that speaks of conspiracy theories.

None of us really have any in-depth knowledge of what Princeactually experienced during his childhood/teenage/older years while rowing up and living in Minnesota, i.e., his struggles, dealing with racial prejudice, etc., unless he shares that part of his life story with us.

As far as you stating we have "enough" social injustices in the world, we actually have more than enough social injustices, and how could you call it "racial paranoia" when racial prejudice in fact does exist? It's not paranoia, it's a reality. Part of his lyrics in "Dreamer" also gives reference to racial profiling, which has been and still is a major problem between minorities and police officers/law enforcement officials within many police depts/law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S., and that is not some conspiracy, but in fact, a reality.
[Edited 4/30/09 11:30am]

I think MLK may get annoyed that Prince went from being somewhat appreciative of some of benefits of growing up in a mostly a "post-civil rights" America to being this millionaire who began to recognize racism only after he thought it affected his wallet.

I think some of us can be a bit too critical of Prince's racial politics since of course there is and always will be a race issue but it would be nice if he'd just lay off the constant conspiratorial tone, misinformed ranting and questionable lyrics ("other people's news", Holocaust aside, Goldstruck, etc)

Hypothetical questions like this really annoy me, cause we can only speculate and NEVER KNOW.

emesem said:

Em, that would be hard to say because none of us know what he went through growing up pre-civil and post-civil rights era, or his family, for that matter, since he was born before the Civil Rights act was signed, and even after it was signed, there was still a lot of racism. The civil rights act surely didn't "stamp" racism away or make it disappear. The only way you'll know of his own personal experience with it, is if you hear it directly from him, and I seriously doubt he only recognized racism when he became rich, since in the lyrics of "Dreamer", he specifically stated he didn't know he was "different" until MLK was lying in a pool of blood. According to those lyrics, that would pretty much put Prince's age around 10 years old when he became aware of racial prejudice.

In my opinion, because he hints at racial prejudice in his lyrics, it seems like some folks are not taking it too lightly. I mean it's not like racial prejudice didn't exist before Prince hinted at it in "Dreamer."...just sayin'.
[Edited 4/30/09 11:30am]

Trust me Prince has always been aware that he is black-yes he is It is so evident from the very beginning with him allowing it to be portrayed that he was mixed because he knew his music would be pushed only into the R&B category. He knew it when he wrote that he couldn't buy a house in a nice area even with a good credit rating (We march). He's always walked a fine line when it comes to race because he understands that his fan base is people of all races. But to answer the question If MLK were alive today I think he would actually be glad that an African-American artist has the right to even make such a song. That's what he fought for equality-there was a time when an African-American artist couldn't even walk through the front door of an establishment much less make a song like Dreamer.

I know that Martin Luther King Jr. would think that "Dreamer," is an emotionally conscious song, as well as cool.

Genesia said:

The line always gets me...

Genesia said:

that gives prince about ten years between not knowing he was different and being a millionaire.

2elijah said:

That's exactly my point, any social injustice is "more than enough" as you say, so why shift attention to ones that are only imagined by conspirancy theorists. You're right about racial profiling, and the lyrics about the police sirens are on point, but by moving the argument to chemtrails just allows people to dismiss his entire point of view.

A conspiracy theory I'd be more inclined to believe (not saying I do) is that theories like the chemtrails idea are put out there deliberately to distract people from engaging with real social issues.

stanleylieber said:

Yeah...America sucks...doesn't it?

Believe me seriously when I say it was impossible to grow up in the Twin Cities and not experience racism in some form. It didn't matter how light the skin tone; you're still black.

wildsign said:

I get your point, but when a social injustice wreaks havoc on a community, no "conspiracy talk" will distract a community from engaging or trying to deal with the situation, especially if members of that community are the ones feeling the sting of that social injustice. As far as chemtrails, I stated in another thread, that I do not know that much about it, but will have to do research on it.

If you've ever watched the documentary "American Drug Wars", it is full of conspiracy theories, where much of it actually turned out to be true. Everything from targetting low income/economically disadvantaged communities/poor rural areas (mainly minorities/poor whites), with outside forces that brought drugs/weapons into those communities. Not like our government didn't know about it. Most people don't or didn't even know this was/has been going on for a while. It's a long story behind it and the drugs/weapon/prison industry is all tied in together. It's today's new slavery system....upgraded.

This country may brag and say it is wonderful to live here and be free, and remind us that people in other countries have it harder. But there's also no crime in pointing out America's wrongs and its very, own crimes against some of its citizens either.
[Edited 4/30/09 20:24pm]

Genesia said:

i don't think it's america versus black people. i think it's rich and powerful people versus poor people. historically that has trended towards white vs. everyone else, but i don't think that's a terminal condition. the system freed prince (and other non-white millionaires and non-white billionaires) just as it once enslaved them.