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The Sociolinguistics of Hip-hop as Critical Conscience pp 101–129Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Where is the Love? White Nationalist Discourse on Hip-hop

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Abstract

Influenced by a professional interest in political hip-hop, expressions of nationalism and sociolinguistic constructions of otherness, this chapter explores the discursive intersections of racialized identities as formulated around, and in response to, hip-hop culture. In contrast to several other chapters presented within this volume, the expressions of dissatisfaction and dissent showcased come not through examination of lyrical content. Discursive data is instead drawn from the discussion boards of Stormfront (http://www.stormfront.org/forum/), a virtual community dedicated to the promotion of white nationalism and white supremacy (De Koster and Houtman, 2008).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The close connections between black power nationalism and music in general remain evident today. Readers are directed toward the 2016 Super Bowl 50 during which the pop singer-songwriter Beyoncé performed a half-time show that celebrated 50 years since the formation of the Black Panthers (see FBI files on the Black Panther Party at https://vault.fbi.gov/Black Panther Party).

  2. 2.

    For other recent debates surrounding claims of racial/cultural misappropriation, readers are invited to review the 2015 anger created surrounding Rachel Dolezal, a white civil right activist who claimed to be black. Also relevant is the more recently posted viral video on YouTube which shows a black female student at San Francisco State University confronting a white male student with dreadlocks to accuse him of cultural appropriation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDlQ4H0Kdg8)

  3. 3.

    The concept of an online or virtual community is understood primarily as a form of online interpersonal association whereby relationships and interactions are “formulated around notions of sharing, mutual commitment, common interests and a sense of belonging” (Kenny, 1994, p. 2).

  4. 4.

    The presentation of data within this section is not intended to represent a post-by-post record of an actual discussion but rather individual posts have been selected and arranged thematically. Given the space limitations of this chapter, only a small fraction of the total data analyzed can be presented although the examples shared within this chapter are believed to be representative of the views documented within the wider data set. The data examples shared have not been edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation except in instances where meaning was excessively obscured. Finally, as all posts used as data can be considered “public acts deliberately intended for public consumption” (Paccagnella, 1997, pp. 7–8), the question of permission to reproduce is negated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Future University Hakodate, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    Damian J. Rivers

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  1. Centre for Teaching and Learning, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Andrew S. Ross

  2. Centre for Meta-Learning, Faculty of Systems Information Science Future University Hakodate, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    Damian J. Rivers

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Rivers, D.J. (2018). Where is the Love? White Nationalist Discourse on Hip-hop. In: Ross, A., Rivers, D. (eds) The Sociolinguistics of Hip-hop as Critical Conscience. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59244-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59244-2_5

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