On September 11, 2001 there was a series
of four suicide attacks coordinated to strike areas of New York City and Washington
D.C. Nineteen terrorist from the Islamic militant
group al-Quida hijacked four
passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New
York City. The other terrorist then targeted the Pentagon and the capitol
building of which only the pentagon mission was successful. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks including the 227 civilians and 19
hijackers aboard the four planes, none of whom survived. Clint Eastwood
put it as “It was the Twenty-First Century's "Day of Infamy”. As the country started to rebuild and even
strike back at the terrorist, there was overwhelmingly unified and strong American
patriotism. Many things help bring about this patriotism but the main catalyst that
pushed it forward was music. Music gave people a voice and a common attitude
after September 11th that we weren’t going to back down, that we were
going to rebuild, and that those lives lost on September 11th will
never be forgotten. It was also a way to heal after this tragic event as people’s
emotions were on the edge. As the country begun to unify and stand behind its
leader, George W Bush, into battle with full confidence, America’s well known
sweet hearts the Dixie Chicks made a controversial statement at one concert in London.
“We’re ashamed our president is from Texas”. This little statement changed the
lives for the Dixie Chicks and established how important the role popular music
plays on politics especially in the immediate aftermath of September 11. Post
September 11th music can be seen as part of a bigger animal, the political/social
system, as it unpurposely separates people by their beliefs and where they
stand on bigger issues.
America
at this time was fearful, unified, and public about their patriotism so much so
that anything that they saw as unpatriotic was considered un American and it
felt like a knife in the back. After their comment, The Dixie Chicks fell off
the top of the world, their tour ended, and radio stations refused to play
there songs because of customer distaste. Lifelong fans were seen in the
streets smashing there once beloved CDs of the Dixie Chicks all because they
felt betrayed and were shocked as to why someone could say such a thing especially
at a time like this. The question that was commonly asked at this time was do
we really have freedom of speech? The answer is yes but the problem is that
they were asking the wrong question. It was never a question of freedom of speech
but of respect. The Dixie Chicks made the worst comment at the worst possible
time and were not shunned for freely speaking but rather their disrespect for
the president and everyone that was behind him. They looked in the face of the American
population and all the soldiers fighting and displayed their strong opinion to
not fight back at the people who caused the death of so many people. I think
the Dixie Chicks deserved some of the punishment that they got but I say that lightly.
Boycotting their songs on the radio and calling them Saddam’s angels is a very
extreme reaction to Maine’s comment and hard to justify. But rather I think it
is reasonable to understand why so many fans turn their back on the Chicks and
considered them unsupportive of the war thus not truly patriotic. The response
by Natalie was that she never intended for this comment to come out and felt
that it was taken the wrong way. Also she said it was a “in the moment” kind of
comment and was only to please the crowd. This might be true but after an event
such as September 11 a popular star such as Natalie Maines has to be cautious
of her actions and words. Sometimes it
takes a huge event, maybe even tragic; to bring a nation together and something
such as music could reinforce that patriotism or anger it. The reason a country
like the U.S comes together in times like those is because of a common enemy.
Instead of people getting mad at the economy, politics, or race during peaceful
times, people during a time of great tragedy can all agree on one enemy and
come together to overcome it. Unfortunately for the Dixie chicks they
established themselves on the wrong side of the American pride animal.
The
important thing to observe from the Dixie Chicks’ mistake is that music has a
much bigger impact on politics and dividing people. For example during
political campaign commercials, music is used as a powerful weapon to help
people relate to a candidate through common ground if they like that song. The
song during the commercials connects to people as an index and helps build
followers to the candidates cause.
Music, but more specifically genre groups, plays a huge role in dividing
and grouping up the American population. These groups of people with common music
interest are then found to have common interest in a lot of areas other than
entertainment but rather politics. This use of aspects of identity to unite
people for political ends or social advancement is called strategic
essentialism and it can be seen every day on TV and on the media.
The
Dixie Chicks were just one example of how music has such a big effect on people
and politics after a big event. On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck
by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. It was the
country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years and caused widespread damage. The epicenter of the
quake was just outside the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. It has
been estimated that the death toll could reach 200,000. 2010 also
marketed the 25th anniversary of “We are the World” and after the
earthquake in Haiti, producer Lionel Richey and Quincy Jones saw the need for a
fundraising event to help out the earthquake victims. Jones had called Lionel and said, "This is what this song is
written for, as a fundraising vehicle for causes, tragedies, and catastrophes
like this”. The new version of the song was recorded on February 1,
2010, in a session lasting 14 hours. Eighty-five musicians were
reportedly involved in the song's recording, and they raised millions to the Haiti
relief fund and it brought everyone together for the common good. This is
another great example of how music can impact our lives and the world around us
especially after events like September 11 and the Haiti earthquake.
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