Public enemy's views on racism as seen trough their song lyrics

Oleh :
Rasti Setya Anggraini - C0300051 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

PUBLIC ENEMY’S VIEW ON RACISM AS SEEN THROUGH THEIR SONG LYRICS ABSTRACT 2006. This research takes the issues of racism as the subject matter. The study emphasizes two problem statements. The first problem statement intends to find out Public Enemy’s view on racism toward black. While the second one has an objective of exploring the solutions for racism offered in Public Enemy’s song lyrics. The source of data in this research is Public Enemy’s albums, especially those produced during the late 80s to the early 90s. The main data were ten song lyrics which constitute the group’s criticism and perspective on racism toward black. From these ten song lyrics, words, phrases, and sentences which have the significance to the subject matter are picked out to conduct the analysis. The secondary data were collected from articles, interviews, and quotes related to Public Enemy and the issue of racism, which are significant for the analysis. This research was carried out within the framework of American Studies. Therefore, it employs interdisiplinary study, which brings the consequence of applying some approaches. The approaches used in this research are sociological, historical and biographical approach. It also uses semiotics, especially that of Roland Barthes’ theory. These approaches are important to conduct the analysis so that the answer of the problem statements can be revealed. The results show that : Public Enemy views that modern racism has changed its shape into a more hidden form. It is more dangerous since it does not appear to be racism and can be implied within many aspects of life. This perspective is also supported by the sociological research in America in which the sociologists have named it as the covert racism. Secondly, Public Enemy believes that raising Black’s awareness level and employing the black consciousness, which encourages Black to be proud of their own color and virtues in themselves, are the basic solutions to face the covert racism. Public Enemy also demands American people (of all races) to reform their way of thinking regarding of race differences (the mind-revolution); because real equality will never be achieved if Blacks and Whites are still thinking and acting within the border of racial line.