Ethnic Conflict

It is often too easy to classify ethnic conflict and genocide on pure hatred. What we must do, instead, to fully comprehend the factors that combine to create that hatred and eventually lead to violence. While the violence may be caused by longstanding tribal or ethnic animosity or a definitive catalyst that knocked down the first domino, the social environment is always a factor. Whether it be the geographical mismanagement of ethnic groups like in the dividing lines between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia that we see in Joe Sacco’s “Safe Area Gorazde” or the economic exploitation by dominant minorities in countries like The Philippines or Rwanda, there is always a greater and more complex foundation for the animosity than simple unfounded hatred.
When the lines were drawn to reshape Yugoslavia into a multitude of smaller states, the issue of ethnic conflict arose as ethnic minorities in certain states were subjected to violence at the hands of other ethnic groups. Joe Sacco’s “Safe Area Gorazde” follows Muslims in the city of Gorazde who are living in fear of Serb groups who attack the city every now and then. In Sacco’s interviews with the Muslim friends he encounters, he finds that some of the violence was even between former neighbors and friends. How could one seek to explain such illogical hatred towards a friend? The answer to this question is that the violence is sparked by a smaller group (the Chetniks and others) and then, once Serbs have murdered Muslims there is no going back. Many of the people who Sacco interviews say that they would be fine with going back to how things were and that they could live with the Serbs again; this is false. Just like any feud, the violence is perpetuated by the effect of its devastation. Even if you got along great with your neighbors, you can never live with them again because they shot the old woman across the street. In the same way, they can never live with you for fear of retribution for these actions. It is the same reason that the Crips and Bloods shoot at each other in the United States. I doubt they even know what their original argument stems from, but all any Blood cares about is the fact that their uncle, brother, cousin, or father was killed by a Crip. For this reason the violence is self-perpetuating, because each new violent act is an excuse for another, and it becomes a vicious cycle. Such is the cause of a great deal of ethnic nationalism: one group of radicals sparks violence which replenishes itself.
Ethnic conflict is also easily ignited by a massive resistance to a minority race that is considered socially and economically superior. Amy Chua chronicles this concept in “A World on the Edge”, which begins with a small-time example of this concept. Chua’s aunt, Leona, is murdered by her chauffeur. Leona is a wealthy Chinese woman in the Philippines. Though Chinese are the minority in the Philippines, they are socially and economically dominant, and so she was resented by her Filipino workers. Ethnic conflicts are often ignited by this idea: the mistreated masses rising up to steal the power that is rightly theirs from an exploitative upper class. Such was the case in Rwanda and many other nations where genocide was caused by masses who gathered together to unite against a group whose power was based not on their population, but by antiquity. This leads to acts of violence against the dominant minority, which then puts the afore-mentioned vicious cycle into practice.
Genocide and other ethnic conflicts are generally sparked by a radical group or leaders who rally others to commit violence. One violence had begun it is very hard to stop because people are not going to be able to reconcile over the damage done. Therefore, ethnic conflict is self-perpetuating, because it is easy to point fingers at a recognizable enemy when they are blatantly different from you. It is easy to hate someone who is different from you because they are easily identifiable and you will associate them with the negative deeds that you believe other members of their ethnicity have committed. That explains why Muslims in Sarajevo and Gorazde cannot live with the Serbs who murdered their friends and family, because their actions will always be tied to their identity as Serbs.

Separation of Classes

John Fitzpatrick's article, The Brazilian Dream: To Live in a Fortress, revolves around the development of housing communities in Sao Paulo and other major Brazilian cities that lie on the outskirts and are isolated from the general public. Specifically, the article chronicles Alphaville, a community so elite and isolated that its inhabitants "may as well (be) in Los Angeles, Singapore, or Moscow." This polar separation between the destitute and lavishly rich contributes to the resentful and angry attitude that the poor harbor towards the rich in Brazil. This separation between the two classes is exacerbated by an inexistent middle class to serve as a buffer. Because the Brazilian dream is to live in a fortress, the poor feel little remorse in stealing from a group of people who are so quick to remove themselves completely from the masses of Brazil. It is a vicious cycle, the more the poor and rich separate, the more violence; and the more violence, the more they separate. This is one of the many causes of violence in Brazil that could prove more influential than funk in the violent gang culture of the favelas.

Brazilification of Western Media

While many, including myself in an earlier post, have, at least partially, accredited the development of funk to the extremely influential growth of hip hop in the United States, it has recently been dishing out its own influence all over the world. For example, Diplo, an immensely famous American DJ, has begun to play funk songs at his concerts which are held all over the world to sold out audiences. He has also begun participating in a documentary called "Favela on Blast" which chronicles the rise of this music. Even CNN has become involved, taking to the streets of Rocinha to interview funk performers and get information on the upcoming film. Although it may not be at the same level as hip hop or other mainstream music forms, funk has definitely brought a new light into the favelas. Never before would CNN be talking about anything other than death, drugs, and prostitution in the streets of Rio's slums. Never before would the words of impoverished "slumdogs" be heard in swanky European dance clubs. Never before would the destitute of Brazil be able to influence the world outside the borders of their slums.

Coke. Guns. Booty. Beats. by Blender

While it is often hard to argue for music containing lyrics such as "Shoot the snitch!" and “We’re just like Colombia … the bullets will eat right through you.”, I really admired the points that the blender article "Coke. Guns. Booty. Beats." (hyperlinked in title) lines up in defense of funk. While the article acknowledges that funk is "a retro-minded hedonism borne of violence, drugs and poverty", it also takes a deeper look into the social scenario that creates such extremely controversial music. The article mainly chronicles Juca, a 24-year-old favelado in Rio de Janeiro and his attempt at funk fame in the world of the baile (large funk concerts). The article does little to counter the argument that the context of funk is wildly illegal and morally questionable, quoting Juca saying that “bailes are profit-making exercises...(gangs) attract customers to the favela to buy their drugs.” Arguing for the moral purity of Funk, however, would be an uphill battle. Instead, the article seeks to point to the causes of such a gang culture, mainly police brutality. The elite forces of the Rio slums that run counter-gang operations in the favelas (named BOPE) do not mess around. They use torturous tactics to illicit information about the location of drug lords, including putting plastic bags over a potential informants head to suffocate him into revealing information. They are also known to shoot first and ask questions later. A few days after his show, the Blender crew catches up to Juca, who informs them that earlier in the week the police had raided the favela in an attack against the Red Command (the controlling gang of that favela) and had mistaken an innocent young man for a trafficker and shot him dead. Juca is not especially shaken by this incident because it is a common occurence in the slums of Rio; some 1,200 young people are killed every year as a result of the war between the gangs and the police. Juca goes on to say that “if a trafficker walks past my house, I know he won’t even look twice. But if the police come by, how do I know they won’t shoot me?” This social tension, often erupting in violence, is what gives voice to funk; and what makes the voice so intense. Everyone in the favela has seen atrocities committed, so it would be unlikely for their music to be about flowers and kittens.

John Gray Loves Funk!?!?

Little known fact: John Gray loves funk. Or at least funk loves him. Or at least funk loves his idea of different forms of capitalism. Or at least funk supports his idea of different forms of capitalism. Or at least...funk...capitalism...John Gray...something or other. In the "From the Great Transformation to the Global Free Market" chapter of his book, False Dawn, Gray states that the global free market is much more than the spread of American capitalism. The new global market has created various strains of capitalism which abide by their own rules and cooperate into a diverse world market. Gray points to Chinese and Russian capitalism as examples of non-American forms. He bases this argument on the different structural decisions of the founders of these regimes, but there is one other category that sets these forms apart and creates a fork in the road of capitalism where each country is forced to make its own choice and follow its own path. Now, you might be asking yourself right now, "well, Ben, how is he going to tie Brazilian funk into these differentiating forms of capitalism?". The answer is simple: funk is a siren which rings the distinct pitch of the Brazilian social situation. NO WAY could a purely American style of capitalism hope to stay in afloat in a nation where the distance between the rich and the poor is so polarized and, somehow at the same time, so blurred that the sons of playboy millionaires go to swanky high class clubs and listen to songs like "Som de Preto" which literally translated means "Song of the Blacks" and contains lines like "a sociedade pra gente não dá valor. Só querem nos criticar pensam que somos animais" which, translated, means "society does not give us value. They only consider us animals." The middle class in Brazil, while growing, is currently barely significant on a social scale, and the two cultures, rich and poor, are kept exclusive of one another in most ways besides funk. A society this torn, with polar disparity between the lavishly rich and the hopelessly poor, yet seemingly tied together by the appeal of funk music, is only compatible with its own distinct form of capitalism. Therefore, the Brazilian market is representative of this difference, with the incorporation and importance of the small business (the fruit stand, the small restaurant, the churrascaria). The poor mingle with the rich in the market, selling favela trinkets or home-cooked meat, but their spheres are drastically different. The economy is therefore similar to the culture: divided into polar opposites, yet blended together in some minuscule ways, which contradicts the American market that puts great importance on the consumption and production of the middle class (which has been virtually non-existent for the last hundred years in Brazil).

The Golden Straightjacket and Funk

In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas L. Friedman argues that the new globalization has forced nations to abide by a new series of rules to survive, including "making the private sector the primary engine of its economic growth...(and) deregulating capital markets". When regarding nations that have transformed themselves in this fashion and now sport a dapper "Golden Straightjacket", as Friedman calls these characteristics, one must consider Brazil (it is, after all, one of the famously developing BRIC nations). Brazil's spectacular and swift rise to a complete democracy with an unfettered free market has created a rapid modernization, but, unfortunately, has been accompanied by increased crime and poverty; most notably in Rio de Janeiro. While the free market system has made many prosperous, it has also extended the favelas in both size and seriousness of poverty. In capitalist Brazil, there are simply no jobs for these masses of destitute citizens, and they seek organized crime as a way to make ends meet. This is the social situation that birthed Funk; an art form that is one of the few benefits to arise out of a disastrously poor social class whose problems were exacerbated by the modernization of Brazil.

The Rise of the Rest...American Influence on Funk

In Fareed Zakaria's Newsweek article "The Rise of the Rest", he argues that the expansion of non-western industries and institutions have dwarfed the once-gigantic influence of the West. Zakaria views the West as a faded star. With the end of the "Pax Americana", a time period when the United States seemed to dominate in every aspect of the world-scene, the good old U.S.A. has slipped away from its former greatness. Zakaria's goes on to state that one of the effects of the American power-supernova is that in the explosion decimating the former prestige of our nation, we have invigorated the globe. New countries are bettering themselves at an alarming rate, more or less by imitating the shape and manner of the West. How, you might ask, could Brazil possibly take popular western structures and manipulate them to enhance their society? Funk is the answer! As Western ideas streak across the globe, Brazilian favelados have learned from American gangsta rappers that the voice of the slums can be recorded and sold to a willing and immense audience. Funk was born from the womb of American hip-hop, and the core ideology is the same: speak on your surroundings. They have adopted this American concept and Rocinha has become the new Compton. The fading of the West has, among other things (namely Western economic and political practices), brought Brazil a new method and forum for the poor to have their voice be heard...Funk.