It seems as though White Power music has been on quite a growth track lately, popularized by a number of forces. While no offical numbers exist for this industry, all signs of sales show a growth in popularity as alienated youth go for something different and radical from what they have been taught in school and at home.

Rational for Hating

Too many kids are growing up in boring suburban homes and are looking for a way to rebel, to be different, to counter mainstream political correctness. To politically correct people, white power music is an abhorance, and to those who oppose them, listening to this music is an ultimate rebellion.

The fear among the anti-defamination league and other politlcally correct activists, is this music will encourage racism and racist acts. It might just do that, particularly without a critique at it's same level. If racist thoughts were part of mainstream academia, and people were allowed to look at them in a critical perspective then maybe racism would find it's right spot in society—not in denial, but in acceptance and repudiation.

There is another reason that such hate music is popular: it gives alienated teens a way to take out their anger in a socially-acceptable way. They see a meaningless world of bureaucratic redtape, working to trip them up, combined with often awkward social relations, and they need to find a way to deal with it. There is no problem with this function of white power music, as long as the attitudes in it do not lead to greater racism in society.

Innovative Politics

White power record labels seek not only to sell lots of records, but to sell political ideas and the notion of racism as a potentially useful ideology. It might seem as 'selling racism' is a terrible thing that must be repudidated, but the idea of selling political ideas is benifical. The more people we get involved in politics the better off we are, as more people will offer more diversity.

Racism is a fringe idea, but it is also one that must also be considered. After all, at the end of the day, you have to wonder are all races equal? It seems as though being white has been a significant advantage for one reason or another. While I do not particularly believe that whites are an superior race or deserve superior priveledge, I am more then wiling to debate that point with you or anyone else. We can debate this point until the cows come home.

Mixing politics and music isn't new. There is a long tradition of folk music that does just that. Joan Baez and Bob Dylan's lyrics often reflected political insight and tried to sell ideas, be it peace or a critique of larger society. You could argue that their music is far better then this loud white power music, and I would agree, but it's still good to see more politics in music.

Moreover, white power groups are increasingly going ways not gone with other groups with the free distrobution of music in Mp3s. While commerical record companies have been going after those who offer their music online, white power artists have been putting their music online. Free music at last—for everybody to listen to freely and critique. So what if it's really crappy?

Solutions to Hate

The solution is not proscribing racist music, but instead it is embracing it and making a bigger part of our lives. If it's more accepted then it won't be so rebellious or desirable. If we are honest about racism and try to understand it instead of dismissing it, then we will do more to conquer it.

Making racist music harder to get will just encourage youth rebellion and increase demand for it. Make children think about race relations in a constructive way, and maybe they will find what the true solution is—maybe racism plays a controlled role. Maybe when you ask slightly racist, then you will find a solution that is honest and not impossible to have racial harm.