I work in the fashion industry and in the past week I have spoken with 3 people hailing from the corporate or media world that wanted to talk about the "Urban" market. Urban is their euphemism for "African American Market" as if there was only one way black people would want to dress, I just had to laugh at them. The world is changing my friends and those simple days of using color coding for outdated social stratification is falling by the wayside but man is it taking a long time for some people to figure it out.
I know our Republican friends like to say that because America elected a black president (who they didn't vote for) we are now living in post racial times and therefore racism is dead and if you see any examples you must be hallucinating or smoking the reefer. We all know that is nonsense racial, ethnic and religious differences are sadly still a real source of prejudice and discrimination in the US. But things are improving and the way many young people define themselves is very different than even 10 years ago, and certainly 20 years ago.
It is sadly absurd that for so long many races or ethnic groups were ascribed 1 viewpoint, 1 style, and 1 musical taste or were defined by the perceived limits of their interest set not by their brain or ideas but by their skin color or ethnicity. The culture that built and created these racial silos was projected on everyone, it created the environment were many thought they had to live by and perpetuate the standards set for what their race, class, or ethnicity were allowed to be interested in.
The pattern of the last 150 years has been that music, fashion, and popular culture in America would often originate with the African American population only to be adopted later on by the larger white population as most recently seen with Hip-hop culture. America has gone through a tremendous transformation since even the birth of Hip-hop in the 70's. America is far more diverse than just the traditional black or white makeup that existed for hundreds of years. We have had a tremendous influx of new immigrants Black, White, Asian, Arab, Hispanic, South Asian etc. from all over the world from place such as the Caribbean, Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Eastern Europe. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2042 no single racial group will be the majority. Couple this changing racial and ethnic makeup of America with the explosion of the internet where a kid is as likely to have a friend on-line half way around the world as a friend down the block and younger people just are not as concerned with race. While it still exists it doesn't factor the way it did in the past into what their interests are, what they buy, who they date or will marry. Yet corporate America and many in the media are living in the past still viewing everything first through a racial lenses.
The young tastemakers who are leading the culture away from a racially obsessed society are the members of what we have dubbed "Verge Culture". They are the growing group of influencers made up of the first generation to have grown up with the internet and they hail from all races and backgrounds but refuse to be defined primarily by race and reject the old labels that are still hyper-focused on by many in the mainstream. It is "Verge Culture" that shops at my website and makes up my friends and contemporaries. It is a cut and paste culture tapping a convergence of tastes and styles gleaned globally through the web, mashing them up and making them their own. They communicate digitally, are socially progressive, and are the most tech savvy people on the planet, their musical tastes and interests are as broad as they wish them to be. As this group grows in numbers there is no doubt the paradigm shift regarding race will continue to permeate the American mainstream and drastically alter people's ideas and attitudes about race.
Clearly many will still cling to the old labels and archaic viewpoint for years to come. But those who can't get past their outdated ideas and only view America through a racial, ethnic, and religious prism will just make themselves irrelevant. Again, I am not saying these issues are going to go away anytime soon but the people who are out their accomplishing things and shaping America's future won't have time for bullshit hang-ups. The members of "Verge Culture" are ushering in a new era where people are defined based on merit, shared ideas, and a similar worldview. Get on board or get left behind. On this Martin Luther King's day we are closer than ever to his dream when someone will be "judged on the content of their character" not "the color of their skin". The evolution continues.....
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