Graduation Year
2025
Date of Submission
12-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
Briana Toole
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Giovanni Pierre
Abstract
In this paper, I investigate the paradox revealed by the Young Thug trial where certain portrayals of Blackness in rap music are simultaneously praised and punished by white institutions. I propose that the theatrics of the Young Thug trial and other instances of rap lyrics used in criminal trials are emblematic of what I call the Black Spectacle. The Black Spectacle is the role Blackness plays in American entertainment. It has three elements: (1) It entertains white audiences because of Black people’s perceived otherness, (2) it provides white people, particularly white men, with a vehicle through which they can vicariously embody traits that they desire but that would be socially unacceptable to possess themselves and therefore have ascribed to Blackness, and (3) it is used to reinforce anti-Black stereotypes, thereby justifying the systemic subjugation of Black Americans. In my analysis, I trace the genealogy of Black music and demonstrate that all genres of Black American music, from slave work songs to contemporary rap were created to reflect and communicate the evolving social, political, and material conditions of Black people in America. I contend that Black Spectacle works in tandem with other oppressive structures to place Black rappers in an oppressive double bind. This double bind ultimately forces them to act against their own ends, stripping them of their agency. This project underscores the importance of raising national awareness of how Blackness is constructed, exploited, and weaponized in American society.
Recommended Citation
Pierre, Giovanni, "The Black Spectacle and Oppressive Double Binds: What Rap on Trial Reveals about Race, Exploitation, and Criminalization in the Music Industry" (2025). CMC Senior Theses. 3827.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3827
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Epistemology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Law Commons, Music Commons