History 476

Devine

Spring 2007

Study Questions: Glenn Altschuler, “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man”

1. What was the broader context in the South that made the rise of rock’n’roll seem particularly threatening to white segregationists? Why did they attack the new music in largely racial terms? What was the link between race, racism, and music?

2. What, in southern segregationists’ minds, was the link between miscegenation and rock’n’roll?

3. In what ways did attacks on rock’n’roll and even non-rock performers like Nat King Cole mobilize the black community? Why did many black activists criticize Cole?

4. Why were African Americans often ambivalent in their response to the popularity of rock’n’roll and black performers? How could rock music both facilitate racial progress but also reinforce racial stereotypes? Why might entering the “mainstream” be a double-edged sword?

5. How did rock’n’roll create a climate that supported desegregation? What, if any, impact did the music have on blurring the color line?

6. How did the “covering” of R&B songs by white artists affect African American performers and songwriters? Why does the author argue that the effect was not entirely negative, as has often been claimed?

7. Why did Little Richard don “eyelashes longer than Josephine Baker’s”?

8. How did Chuck Berry navigate the “racial minefield” in his music and performances?