People who at least somehow differ from the majority were constantly humiliated and abused. The same thing happened to black people, who have been fighting for their rights for decades. There are multiple ways of protecting themselves from discrimination. Everyone can choose their way: singing songs, like Mamie Smith did, going for strikes, or showing that they do not differ from the white community. Black violence is a way of resisting white violence and fighting for black people’s rights.
Firstly, “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith – is the first officially recorded blues by a black singer, which contributes to the topic of revolutionary black violence. In addition, it can be seen as an outrage and burst of emotions because of mistreatment and the attitude the woman did not deserve. This recording opened the race record market, which means many African American artists started their careers as singers. A person should have had a lot of courage to sing the lyrics Smith did.
Secondly, Smith’s art evoked the emergence of such recordings as “Cop Killer” and “Squeeze the Trigger” by Ice-T and many others. This is more than possible, and the reason for that is, firstly, many artists were inspired by Smith’s spirit and braveness; secondly, black people had enough of discrimination and mistreatment, that is why they started to sing about it. She was like the first step for artists in fighting for their rights. For instance, in her song “Crazy Blues,” Mamie Smith sings these lyrics:
I’m gonna do like a Chinaman… go and get some hop
Get myself a gun… and shoot myself a cop (“Crazy”).
It must have been a great inspiration for other artists to follow her steps and continue her work in fighting for their rights, even in, to some extent, rude ways. Gussow claims that: “…the extraordinary success of “Crazy Blues” was at least partly a result of the complex symbolic rebellion it enacted, the truth it spoke to white power” (2002, 12). He says the right things: the crucial thing in this piece of art is that it was a rebellion song that spoke the truth and showed the problems that had to be solved.
Thirdly, a few words about Robert Charles, who took part in riots and gunfights because of being assaulted by a white police officer. No one knows how many strictly people this man killed: “Some said thirty-two. Some said eighteen. (Mister 69)” (Gussow, 2002, 23). He evoked a great wave of anger and hate from the side of white people: after being fatally shot, the mob shot him hundreds of times more and hit the corpse. So-called “Robert Charles song” is never existed record. The attitude to this event is highly ambivalent: on the one hand, the man contributed to fighting for black lives and the results people can observe until today: this was not in vain; on the other hand, what happed was cruel from both white and black sides and possibly could be done in a more lenient way.
Finally, it is said, that the song “Crazy Blues” and Robert Charles’s actions are connected. Gussow assumes that the song “Crazy Blues” could draw listeners to “folk-memories of Charles, their own most notorious cop-killer” (2002, 23). In addition, it is said that the word “hop” in Smith’s lyrics means drugs (they were associated with angry black rebels), the term “crazy” in the name of the song can also refer to Charles and, obviously, the lyrics “Get myself a gun and shoot myself a cop” can refer to him as well. Although there is no evidence these two events are connected, they must be considered. “Crazy Blues” can be a “safe” representation of Charle’s actions.
To sum up, black violence is a way of resisting white violence and fighting for black people’s rights. Unfortunately, this may be inappropriate, but white people putting themselves in black people’s shoes can comprehend when a person is abused and assaulted many times and no one listens to them, they have to take some actions to be heard. In addition, Mamie Smith’s record “Crazy Blues” made a significant contribution in fighting for black lives.
Reference
Gussow, A. (2002). “Shoot myself a cop”: Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues” as Social Text. Callaloo, 25(1), 8-44.