“Ethnic, Ethical, and Excellent”

by Latoya Peterson

Soul Train

During the Saturday Snowpocalypse Two that hit the East Coast, I happened to catch VH1’s documentary “Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America.”

The description on the VH1 site says:

Few television series were as innovative and influential as Soul Train. Set first in Chicago, and later in Los Angeles, the Soul Train dance party reached national significance and became the longest running syndicated show in television history. In commemoration of its 40th anniversary, Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America is a 90 minute documentary celebrating the show’s many contributions to pop culture, music, dance and fashion. From 1970-2006 the series offered a window into the history of Black music, and its charismatic host, Don Cornelius was The Man responsible for a new era in Black expression. A trained journalist, Don created a media empire that provided an outlet for record labels and advertisers to reach a new generation of music fans. As the epitome of cool, many of his expressions entered the popular American lexicon: “A groove that will make you move real smooth,” “Wishing you Peace, Love and Soul!” The documentary will feature performances and great moments from the show, as well as behind-the-scene stories and memories from the cast and crew. In addition, popular musicians, comics and actors of yesterday and today will comment on growing up with the show and will share their stories of how Soul Train affected their own lives.

Soul Train was an unapologetically black space within the landscape of television. (This doesn’t mean other races/ethnicities were excluded, but more on that later.) Don Cornelius used to say that he felt black media (and by extension, Soul Train) should be “ethnic, ethical, and excellent.”

That small concept was fascinating.

What does it mean to have ethnic media?

What does it mean for that media to be ethical?

And how do those two factors work along with excellence?

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Trackbacks & Pings

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Comments

shemari wrote:

I remember our family regularly watching Soul Train as little girl. My family is Jamaican, so this was one of the few times we’d listen to American music. The clothes the dancers on show wore were a little “out there”, but we lived in much more conservative Michigan. I lived in an all Black neighborhood in Detroit, attended an all Black school and it was so nice to have a fun show on TV that was almost all Black.

What does it mean to have ethnic media? I think it’s media that showcases people of color and their particular cultures. The music, dancers (racially), dances, and artists featured on Soul Train were rarely found on American Bandstand. Soul Train what was I, my neighbors and my friends identified with as Blacks.

What does it mean for that media to be ethical? It depicts a fair, honest, yet diverse representation of the culture in question. I remember Soul Train being family friendly and featured both older and younger artists. It wasn’t prudish, but the extreme weren’t given undue attention either.

And how do those two factors work along with excellence? Viewers or consumers who aren’t members of that ethnic group are able to learn things about the group that may challenge stereotypes. This media also becomes a viable option for information and entertainment, rather than just a niche market.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 1:26 pm ¶
laura wrote:

The ‘hippest trip in America’ was one of my favourite shows back in the day. As a black girl in suburban Canada, Soul Train was a lifeline to a world where the people looked like me except they were much, MUCH cooler.

Soul Train WAS ethnic, ethical and EXCELLENT. It was OUR thing. ‘They’ had American Bandstand, even though I’m sure many snuck over to Soul Train. I’m old enough to remember when seeing black people on TV could bring the whole family to the room. As for ethical, Soul Train, the kids on Soul Train were every bit as clean cut and wholesome as the kids on American Bandstand but they were better dressed and used tbe Afro Sheen Blowout Kit.

It broke my heart when I learned that Don Cornelius was a wife abuser. I admired him so much back then. He was smooth and he knew his business, Times have changed.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 2:08 pm ¶
laura wrote:

Oh and they got it wrong. Don Cornelius wished us LOVE, Peace and Souuuuuul.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 2:12 pm ¶
Charles J wrote:

Im from the later years of Soul Train which still comes on if I am not mistaken. In the later years it came on after midnight in Baltimore.

I loved watching the show. As a little boy I loved trying to figure out the names on the scrambled board. This show should be the template for other shows. If all shows were “Ethnic, Ethical, and Excellent” I wouldn’t have to much to complain about

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 4:30 pm ¶
stagolee wrote:

Two of my favorite memories of Soul Train involve a Latino comedian, and an Asian one.

The Asian one talked about how he misunderstood what his black friends meant when they said they wanted to “shoot some chink”. They were referring to basketball played with metal nets. Good laugh there.

The Latino comedian talked about growing up around black people and going to a school named “Saint Leroy”. More good laughs.

I miss Soul Train. I’ll try to catch this documentary.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 5:03 pm ¶
Sonia wrote:

stagloee—I remember those episodes with the comedians!! I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 70’s. It was great to see young black people on a show everyone (from the young to the old) could relate to.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 5:35 pm ¶
Meg wrote:

Ethnic media means…. media which shows the full breadth of a society. Not just limiting it to having people with different skin colours and that’s the end of the job -seeing different people in their spaces where their language, accents, attitudes, customs, etc, etc are shown as they are and not altered to slip into the majority narrative. This means having a space where people who might feel out of place or unwelcome in other spaces can have a moment to see themselves reflected back.

Ethical media means …. having a clear set of principles to guide the show/programming whatever, and sticking to them regardless of statistics telling you what the 18-49, middle income viewer really really wants. Resisting the urge to turn ethnic media into the lowest common denominator for a cheap money grab. It doesn’t have to be all positive all the time, but run of the mill stereotypes can be found elsewhere so the bar should be set a little higher.

If something is ethnic and ethical the communities it’s trying to reach will find it and support it = excellence in terms of connecting with people and excellence in terms of business success.

SBS is a public/private funded radio and tv service in australia whose mandate is to provide multilingual services and programmes which reflect multicultural australia. I wouldn’t suggest that it’s perfect as there are some commercial concerns, but it takes a fair crack at being “ethnic, ethical and excellent”. As an example, and this might seem trivial, in our house we’d watch SBS news because the newsreader was an asian lady (who it still there and still awesome) – i think my mum (who is asian) liked that her kids could see something that reflected our family just a bit (accent and all). Whereas we were basically invisible on commercial networks.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 7:43 pm ¶
ashlynn wrote:

I watched the special too It saddens me how Soul Train has become irrelevant, especially since much of young black culture (and urban culture as well, there’s a difference)- which Soul Train was largely about- is definitely in the midst of a throwback fashion and style phase.

Not to mention how my sister and I used to use the fridge magnets to have our own Scramble. Aww.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 10:07 pm ¶
Tonya Alexander wrote:

Keep it Black, Latino, etc but represet and stand for being classy and decent and PUT YOUT OWN TO WORK AT HOME.

It means creating a great line of clothing like FUBU or Southpole but then NOT out sourcing to sweatshops in China and still trying to call yourself an “uplifter of communities and African American business people” at the same time. They can all still turn a profit in the US they just get greedy and make more.

It means not spending $100 for a manicure, $1500 for hair extensions, $700 for a pair of shoes, $1000 for a bottle of booze, $5000 for rims for their car, $25000 for a mouth grill and half a million on 50 endangered Lynx pelts for your trollop girlfriend (hello Kanye and Amber!) and you to wear, instead of coming out to protest when elderly people or children in your home towns are at risk.

It means not raging and playing the race card when you are criticized for being ostentatious. It means not whining that “animal rights activists and anti-sweatshop etc activists don’t have their ” priorities straight” and they “don’t care about people…..” when you know you’re just in it for yourself and to play into every stereotype that the white media has about us.

Soul Train’s legacy is being largely let down by today’s generation-especially by stank like Kanye. I’m proud I was there when it was all the way live.

Posted 10 Feb 2010 at 11:48 pm ¶