Above all, I found this video noteworthy because it conveys how African-Americans have been assigned a ‘natural’ musical ‘essence’ for a long time now. These days, people often imply that ‘blacks’ have an ‘innate’ capacity to be hip hoppers — whereas the video presents a variation on that basic message about a musical ‘nature.’

As I’m thinking about those essentialist notions (about ‘black’ people, in this case), I mainly have in mind Said’s concept of Orientalism — which has a wider applicability to racism in general (particularly when that racism intersects with imperialism — as with the British empire and India, for instance). Obviously there is other relevant analysis out there, but I find Said’s work exceptionally helpful. In his book Culture and Imperialism he broadens out that earlier analysis of Orientalism; I think that book is under-appreciated.

Anyway, aside from the aforementioned links between music, ethnicity and racism -
I also found it noteworthy that the dark-skinned guys in the video were segregated — as in contemporary ghettoes.

I’m curious as to the percentage of African American men in the Conservation Corps. When I see a Con-Corps van, there are rarely white men in it.

And since a lot of Corps workers come from a city background, they are often disconnected from the natural environment they find themselves working in, often using cellphones, or blasting cd-players in campgrounds, as opposed to relishing the environment they find themselves in. It’s often “just a job”.

On the flip side, there seem to be less African Americans and a majority of whites in the actual Parks Department.