Black And Blue Research Paper

There was an enormous amount of racial discrimination of black musicians in the early and mid-20th century. However, there were many black artists (both male and female) whom fought against the discrimination through their Jazz songs/vocals. For example, Louis Armstrong sang “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue,” from the album Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1929). Another artist who sang against discriminatory ways was Billie Holiday and her famous track “Strange Fruit,” from the album The Billie Holiday Story (1939). These artists expressed themselves through these songs to communicate the injustice and racial discrimination being done not only to black musicians, but to African Americans nationwide. Armstrong and Holiday took a massive risk by releasing these songs to the public by discussing lynching, unfairness, and racial judgement. Both “Black and Blue” (1929) and “Strange Fruit” (1939) bore an emotional interpretation of the black social standards in those eras. “Black and Blue” (1929) interprets the misunderstanding and sadness of a man realizing the negative impacts of being “Black” during that time. “Strange Fruit” describes the physical injustices and killings done to African Americans in America. …show more content…
The Jim Crow Laws were in effect from 1870-1950’s. These laws detailed where black people had to sit, what fountains to drink from, and what restaurants they can attend. Also during this time the Ku Klux Klan began murdering black individuals by lynching them, and also spread their beliefs throughout the United States. “By 1924, it reportedly had 4 million members in 4,000 chapters across the United States.” (LaFosta, "Racism in the 1920s & 1930s | The Classroom | Synonym"). This group was growing, which meant that the social issue of racism and discrimination of black people in America was gradually becoming