Benny Goodman was a bandleader and clarinetist. He made history in 1938 by being the first musician to perform jazz with an integrated band of African Americans in Carnage Hall. He was known as “The King of Swing” because he was a renowned leader of the most popular dance in the United States when swing jazz was the most widespread music in America (Gómez, 2018). This paper will discuss the impact of diversity on Benny Goodman interaction with society during their historical period in America, the responses he used to react to the diversity-divided society, and how he used his music and status to address the issue of segregation.
Effect of Diversity on Benny Goodman Integration with Society in America during Historical Period
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During historical period, segregation was prevalent in the American society. African Americans were segregated against and these caused social problems and prevalent racial divisions. Jazz music was associated with illegal spaces like brothels or speakeasies and thus were not allowed to perform in other music venues. Jazz music was found in the roots of the African American culture and was only attributed to African Americans. The social stigma created an environment for exploitation of African Americans. The stigma involved the belief that the traditional African American music was not an art. It was believed to be trivial only designed for financial gain thus; it was condemned and rejected in the United States. This made it challenging for Whites to interact with the African Americans in the jazz music industry. For instance, the segregation made it difficult for Benny Goodman to collaborate with African Americans, which posed significant disadvantages throughout history of jazz music (Gottschild, 2016).
Responses Benny Goodman made to react to the Diversity-Divided Society
There was a significant division along diversity lines in American society as jazz music grew together with the nation. Jazz is an integral aspect in American’s history because it was created at the time when racial segregation was rampant in the U.S. Benny Goodman responded to the diversity-divided society by becoming a jazz artist and by integrating African Americans in his band. Through his jazz music, Goodman was able to bring people together in spite of their racial differences. He promoted cross-cultural interaction through offering performing opportunities to African Americans to take part in his band. He hired African Americans to perform in his bands thus introducing them to jazz audiences. He was able to make people realize that jazz plays a significant role in the traditional American art form. Through integrating with African Americans, he was able to communicate that in the jazz industry; all musicians are considered equal despite the differences in race or culture ( Hay & Flynn, 2015).
How Benny Goodman used their jazz music or status to address the issue of segregation
Benny Goodman was a local and international celebrity in the entrainment industry. His novelties altered the American music landscape. He used his music and status in the music industry to bring change in American by breaking barriers of segregation. On January 1938, Goodman performed the first jazz band in Carnegie Hall. Not only did he make jazz a viable form of music, he made a cultural history by integrating with African American in his band. He was the first white musician to hire an African American pianist, Teddy Wilson, who played piano on the stage with the white band. In the following year, Goodman added Lionel Hampton, a vibraphonist, in his lineup and included Gene Krupa in the band. By integrating Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, ad Teddy Wilson in his band, Goodman helped in pushing for racial collaboration in jazz ( Hay & Flynn, 2015).
Although jazz music itself was a correspondence to the ideals of the civil rights movement, as a jazz musician, Goodman took up the cause of fighting segregation to himself. He has been a force for social mobility, respect, and racial integration. Using his music and celebrity, Goodman was able to promote social justice and racial equality. Previously it was a taboo in the American society to work with African Americans in the music industry and even illegal in certain states. Goodman not only focused on seeking to further his music career, he also aimed to promote racial equality by establishing a structure of mutual co-optation. In addition, in 1938, there was rampant segregation in music venues. However, Goodman brought over half dozen of the African Americans musicians along with him onto Carnage Hall stage ( Hay & Flynn, 2015). Therefore, Goodman was not just musical but made cultural and social history whereby his racial mix worked extremely well and its success was a major blow against segregation.
Moreover, Goodman used his popularity to spread the importance of the African American music. In the 1930s, many jazz bands who marketed themselves comprised of white musicians. In 1934, Goodman brought a popular African American bandleader, Fletcher Henderson, into his NBC radio weekly show. He performed Henderson’s music and this promoted awareness of jazz by African Americans musicians to the white audience ( Hay & Flynn, 2015). Therefore, he made a good stand for incorporating the African Americans that helped to break the racial barrier.
Conclusion
Racism was ugly in several insidious ways in the jazz music industry as African Americans during historical periods. At the time, the greatest African American artists faced enormous amount of segregation. Benny Goodman, a white jazz artist used his music and status in the entertainment industry to raise awareness about segregation and the importance of African American jazz music. He used jazz as an antidote to racism in the U.S. He broke the racial barriers by integrating the African American pianist in his band at the carnage Hall. This act was cultural historic that brought African Americans and whites together to socialize and collaborate. Therefore, Benny Goodman did a great job of fighting against segregation through his jazz music and status in the music industry.
References
Gómez, J. (2018). The Politics of Sounding Black: Nationalism, Agency, and the Experience of Black Jazz Musicians (Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University).
Gottschild, B. D. (2016). Waltzing in the dark: African American vaudeville and race politics in the swing era . Springer.
Hay, J. M., & Flynn, D. (2015). Changing Social Focusing in the Development of Jazz Music. Journal of Sociocybernetics , 31.
