" Never Would have Played It " - Silly Accusations Against Nashville Superintendent
By Shawntaz Crawford - SOTG Staff Writer
I get up, drink my morning coffee, and am transported back to 1955. A young man accused of whistling at a white woman is beaten to death by an incited white mob. Unfortunately, 14-year-old Emmett Till's perceived act while visiting family along the Mississippi Delta cost him his life.
As far as we have come as a society, lately there are so many specific moments that illustrate we may not have come as far along in race relations as we have thought. Once again, in Nashville, a black man is reminded of his place in society and that no matter how high he climbs, his career and integrity can all come into question by a preposterous accusation.
Last week, Metro Nashville Public Schools Superintendent Shawn Joseph played a snippets of Marvin Sapp's "Never Would Have Made It" and Too $hort's "Blow The Whistle," as audio aides to a speech being given to illustrate how he uses music to motivates him; yet, the effort managed to offend the honor of a school board member who wasn't even in the room.
In this age of overt sexual misconduct and me-tooism, you would think that you could tell the difference between a genuine act of chauvinism and a man making an innocent presentation to his colleagues.
On Monday morning, Nashville schools board Vice Chair Jill Speering filed an email complaint to the district's federal program and oversight director. In the email, Speering said Joseph's use of the Too $hort clip was "highly offensive, reprehensible and inexcusable" to play in a public setting. Later in the email, she insists that Joseph played the song to suggest that he was calling her and another school board member, Amy Frogge, a derogatory word toward women for their opposition to Joseph in recent weeks, all based on the profanity present in the song.
However, an MNPS spokesperson—and even Joseph himself—has repeatedly said that no profanities were played and that he explained the context of why he played the lyrics during the meeting. Joseph also warned the audience that the rest of the song was laced with profanities.
I once saw a magic show where I was amazed at how the magician pulled a rabbit out of a hat. I find myself transfixed by the same sense of amazement as I wonder how this woman managed to pull an overt act of disrespect out of a snippet of blow the whistle that was being used to make a point.
I don't know whether this is a case of racism or cultural insensitivity. This woman obviously doesn't know what "Blow The Whistle" means to Gen X-ers like Joseph and me. Yes, the lyrics are misogynistic; the lyrics are overtly sexual and disrespectful to women. But this isn't the first popular song to have problematic lyrics.
Honestly, everything in life is a matter of context and perspective. In this context, I think it is you, Ms. Speering who is being disrespectful. I think it is you who owes Superintendent Joseph an apology. This act is not different from the accusation Carlyn made about Emmitt Till. On her deathbed, decades later she revealed that she'd exaggerated the exchange that cost Till, his mother and people of color so much emotional harm.
This is a poor attempt to leverage a white woman's justice movement to fuel an obvious agenda to castrate yet another strong black man.
At this point, "Blow the whistle" is as important to my generation as a cherished Negro spiritual—right up there with "Lift Ev'ry Voice & Sing."
Granted, Joseph probably could have chosen another way to illustrate his point. But a large percentage of those in attendance were both unfamiliar with the song and said they were not offended by the reference. And, to his defense, how would he have known that a whistle could possibly have gotten his career killed?
Please like and share this post to make sure men like Dr. Joseph, who are doing positive things in our community, are not victims of unfair attacks of unjustice.
#injusticeinnashville #nevershouldhaveplayedit #justiceforjoseph
