Tayari's Blog: DORF Factor & One-Negro-At-A-Time Syndrome
Posted by TayariJones on October 23, 2009 09:45 AM
Filed under
The Writing Life
I saw this great piece in Slate about the black music that gets featured on NPR. I have long since held that black folks and white folks tend to have different taste in black artists. Well, Josh Weiner has broken it down. He calls it the DORF factor.
In short, he notices that the black music featured on NPR tends to be by artists who are DEAD, OLD, RETRO, or FOREIGN. He also noticed that NPR seems sweet on black folks making music that is associated with white traditions, like Jeez Louise! Black folks singing opera!
I have noticed similar trends in the books by black authors who receive mainstream attention, but I have been reluctant to post about it. The reason is that I wouldn't want to seem to be begruding any black author the benefit of this attention. There is such an impulse to see an African or Carribbean writer getting lots of attention, and think "She's taking my spot!" But the real question is why is there just one spot? Or, why do I feel the need to compete with the other black writer on the list? Why do I not feel that I have been passed over in favor of the other writers on this list? Why can't an African-African writer be on the list alongside and African-Carribbean writer?
That said, the DORF factor is alive and well in literature, too. (The categories are a little bit different. For example, for "Retro" we should substitute "Historical". There should also be a category for black people who are the ONLY ONE-- in thier families, at their jobs, or somewhere.) But the main thrust of the article is that NPR doesn't honor muscians that actual living black people enjoy. (You will see I am not naming any names because I have no grudge against any writer. We are all out here doing the best we can, telling the story that we have to tell.)
This is not to say that no black folks enjoy the books that are reviewed in the NYT or on NPR, but when I look at what people are reading on the subway or in bookclubs, they are seldom the same lists. Obviously there are rule-proving exceptions,but you get the idea. Please note, that I am writing this not to criticize the writers who are featured in these formats. Nor am I suggesting that black readers are unsophisticated, as I reject the idea that NPR and NYT are the arbiters of all things smart. All I'm doing here is pointing out the disconnect.
(Here's the link to the Slate article that inspired this post)
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There are 2 comments on "DORF Factor & One-Negro-At-A-Time Syndrome". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Alicia ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
I totally agree that NPR does not have Ludacris, The Game, Keisha Cole, Common, Ciara, or Ne-Yo whom play in my car, but then how do we define what do African-Americans listen to? Those musicans aren't always playing in my car.
This week, I was listening to NPR's "Tell Me More" which had just finished a program with Raven Simone whom I love, but then the program had a sample of the next day's show which was an acappella group called Sweet Honey and I had an inner groan of "oh no not more folksy black music". President Obama and Michelle like them, and apparently so does the African-American host of "Tell Me More" so is it just me? My problem is that I think African-American taste is becoming splintered. I listen to different stuff than my mother. She likes Chrisette Michelle, Tina Turner and the Michael Baisden show. Where I am at is Santigold, Rihanna, MIA, and Kenna.
Santigold and Kenna are both Black musical performers who don't do R&B or hip-hop (Santigold fights the R&B label b/c she doesn't even like R&B), but lots of other African-Americans listen to Santigold and Kenna too. When I went to the Santigold concert, I was definitely not the only brown face in the crowd. I went with my sister and we were surrounded by other young African-Americans who listen to a spectrum. I know probably every song Michael Baisden plays and I sung along to the Notorious soundtrack because I grew-up listening to Hot 97 through the late 90's. To be honest, if you go to a Jay-Z or Kanye concert outside of New York the crowd is pale. Those tickets ain't cheap.
October 23, 2009 05:35 PM
Comment #2, by Bethany
Something I wonder about now: is it the outlets like NPR presenting things as though it's "what Black folks listen to" or is that our reaction based on historically being "minoritized"? I wonder, when they have shows about white artists if the listeners feel misrepresented when it doesn't match their taste. This is too small a space to make myself clear, I think. All I know is I thought it was awesome when my Dad and I were listening to NPR on the way to school (which we did constantly when I was in high school) and they were featuring Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. If that fits into the conversation, at all. :)
October 23, 2009 05:54 PM