Posted on 06/11/2012 12:45:26 PM PDT by mojito
...He dubbed himself the Funky President, and in most important respects, he was a stand-alone black conservative: anti-drug, pro-school, anti-revolution, prohard work.
He urged black people not to riot. He was deeply suspicious of using the apologia of societal racism to excuse inertia or failure. In Browns world, you only had yourself to blame or praise. A man was what a man did: he had to step out there into a hostile world and shape it according to his own desires. Brown had no truck with blaming whitey; he was at war with destiny itself. In this sense, he was colorblind. Nothing and no one would halt the procession of his irresistible will. A part of this was mere grandstanding (one more street-theater way of getting the crowd to stop and look at him), but it also went deeper, provoking serious disaffection within his core black audience.
In 1972, Brown supported Richard Nixon for reelection over his challenger George McGovern because he liked the presidents policy of New Federalism. Nixon depicted the Democratic faith in big government as only skin-deep in its equity, being in reality deeply patronizing to anyone a few rungs down the socioeconomic ladder. Nixon presented his initiative as a way of putting start-up money where it should be: in the hands of states and individuals, not Washington. This harmonized with Browns own street-level ethic: he didnt think black people should get any special breaks....
(Excerpt) Read more at city-journal.org ...
I also was disgusted by James Brown's antics on the Grand Ole Opry back in the 1970's. He showed no respect whatsoever for that genuine American institution, performing his usual set of rhythm and blues at that venue. He was met with, at best, muted applause and some boos. Of course, Porter Wagoner gets the blame for having the audacity of inviting someone not at all appropriate for the Opry.
So, I'm really not a James Brown fan and am somewhat cynical at any attempts to paint him in a favorable light. Tastes vary, of course, and I fully understand that there are those who like his music and performing style.
It is true that Brown's personal life spun out of control at an age when most men have gained some perspective and have settled down, and in the end came to represent many of the things that he had preached against earlier in his career. That is his tragedy.
Still, despite his many flaws as a man, in my book he's a great and unique American artist.
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