“Play That Funky Music, White Boy” — Censorship, Art, and the Law

By June 24, 2017May 12th, 2022Higher Court Rulings
Art becomes entangled with the law through censorship, resulting in unintended consequences and a perversion of justice.
This clip from the past is an example of censorship utterly destroying a work of art and even worse, altering the facts to obscure an inconvenient truth.
And still worse, the censorship of the past has spread to the justice system itself.
Today.
The back story of this song, as well as the infamous chorus line, are absolutely true. It really happened.
It is significant to note “Play That Funky Music” is the most licensed song in history. That’s how much it resonates with people, and it crosses all barriers– race, religion, politics– all become irrelevant when this song comes on.
 
This is, to me, proof that as human beings, we all have some core traits that ultimately unite us. Music and art are most often examples– expressions– of our shared humanity.
Music and art also define us as a society. History museums prove this out.
Photographs, statues, paintings, poetry, symphonies and folk songs and crude markings on cave walls– these are most often the representatives of societies throughout history.
 
Unfortunately, there are many people who can ignore this inconvenient truth, and worse, try to bury it under their own prejudice, ignoring their own humanity in the process.
 
So we can fairly say those who endorse censorship will ultimately lie and hide the truth in order to impose their morality on others.
 
The real import of this is the underlying attempt at altering history itself, in order to fit a narrative based on motivated self-interest, regardless of the stated intent.
 
This struck me as being interesting in the current climate of restricting and controlling, “The Fourth Estate” and freedom of speech itself.
 
We are currently preparing a Supreme Court case involving a Rap song which was deemed a terrorist threat to police officers, so I’m very aware of how censorship can take on a life of it’s own and work it’s way into the justice system itself.
Censorship is a cancer that spreads throughout the body politic and eventually, the legal system itself.
.Censorship is not justice.