Trump Country Music’s Dance of the Cowboy Boots
Trump country music has right-wing country stars and fans dancing to the beat of the authoritarian in their hard-heeled country boots… for now.
racism
Cormac McCarthy’s ‘Blood Meridian’ Diagnoses Everyday Fascism
If everyday fascism’s essence is the anti-humanist view of living beings as disposable instruments, then Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is its field manual and warning.
When Marvel’s Fantastic Four Battled Hate
By 1963, Marvel’s Fantastic Four battled some of the publisher’s most fearsome villains. By year’s end, they faced a threat with chilling parallels to today’s political landscape.
Antonia Hylton’s ‘Madness’ Illuminates the Shadows of Racial Injustice
Madness is a scathing indictment of how Black Americans are disproportionately affected by mental health stigmas, inadequate care, and systemic neglect.
Dog-Whistling Dixie and Racial Politics in 1960s Country Music
Trump’s recent co-option of Lee Greenwood and his song “God Bless the U.S.A.” isn’t the first time the far right has used country music for its purposes.
‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy
In adapting the alternative history The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins and his crew made cinema – a medium with origins in white supremacy – work for them.
‘Nothing But a Man’ Is an Unflinching Drama of Marriage and Racism
Nothing But a Man is about battling discrimination on an uneven playing field but also about tenaciously preserving friendships and families.
Immersed in America: The Creation of Elvis Presley
We know how Elvis Presley’s story reflects on American history, its music and mythology, but how did America help to create Elvis?
Modern-Day Minstrelsy in Cord Jefferson’s ‘American Fiction’
Cord Jefferson’s provocative satire on race and literature, American Fiction, skewers modern-day minstrelsy and performative allyship.
The Rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll Nation and the Far Right Reaction
American anxieties about the rise of rock ‘n’ roll nation were exploited by the far right, relating the music’s lyrics, sounds, dances, and subcultures to ubiquitous worries about communism and the developing civil rights movement.
‘Lady for a Night’ Poked a Stick in the Eye of Southern Censors
Hays Code era Lady for a Night links black American characters with upstart so-called “white trash” to expose corruption and “zombie” hypocrisy from the so-called “quality class”.
The Alt-Right’s Roots Go Deep in Co-Opting Pop Music
As with the Nazis and Goebbels and the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right’s desire to co-opt pop music for their purposes requires ideological and ethical gymnastics.