Essay On How Rock And Roll Changed America

Shaking the Foundations

Since the founding of the United States of America, culture, religion, and race have always been interlaced. If one of these changed, the others struggled to adapt. There was never a time in America’s short history that these three matters collided more brutally or ferociously than during the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll. It is quite obvious that not one single event, action, or phenomenon caused the turmoil during this era, but rather a perfect storm of cultural and racial revolutions that collided head on with tremendous religious backlash.

All Shook Up: How Rock ‘N’ Roll Changed America showcased how one aspect of the Cultural Revolution during the 1950s and 1960s supplemented the perfect storm of social reforms. The first half of the book, Dr. Glenn Altschuler, largely focused on how rock ‘n’ roll and those who wrote and produced it stirred up topics such as race and sexuality. As with any new social or cultural shift, rock ‘n’ roll faced an almost immediate resistance from both religious and fundamentalist extremists. In most cases, it was the same types of people that opposed rock ‘n’ roll also opposed other major social reforms such as racial integration.

Altschuler succeeded in his attempt to portray the struggle early rhythm and blues movements faced due to the fact that they were founded by mostly black artists and writers. This struck a very conflicting chord with the white population who were afraid that their children would catch the so-called “jungle fever.” Southern segregationists and white supremacist organizations quickly targeted rock ‘n’ roll. They very often over exaggerated the effects of listening to rock ‘n’ roll with such claims as “[listening to rock ‘n’ roll] caused racial mixing which led, inevitably, to miscegenation and that exposure to black culture promoted juvenile delinquency and sexual immorality.” (p. 37). These claims were ridiculous in nature and were merely used to suppress