Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
During the show, we discussed all the usual topics for a hot blooded Sunday afternoon: Politics, news, African American issues, Obama and more. Toward the end of the show, someone made mention of Robert Plant's appearance on The Today Show. My first thought was, "Who in the heck is Robert Plant and why does he matter?" It only took me a couple of seconds to figure out the answer to both of those questions.
Robert Plant is the former lead man for Led Zeplin. He is also of British decent. Apparently, Plant was mentioning the American influences to his music. "Spook music" was a genre he stated to be one of his favorites, which obviously got my attention. The host of the show didn't seem to notice a thing and The Today Show hasn't issued an apology or explanation for the incident.
OK, I tried to think to myself, "What else could he have meant when he said, 'Spook music'?" So, I went to Internet University to try to find answers to that question. When I searched for the term "Spook Music" on the web, I didn't find much of anything that might allow me to exonerate Robert Plant for his ill-timed remark. I saw a band called "The Spooks," but that didn't seem to correlate. I also saw a website that talked about Spook music, but it was referring to a record label that appears to have been created in the last five years. Overall, it appears that both Robert Plant and The Today Show might owe black America an apology.
I'd love to hear feedback on this one, I'm trying to find an explanation. Could the Today Show Host have been too insensitive to catch this or am I the one missing the joke? Either way, we'd rather not be referred to as "spooks."
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.