The 2017 Grammy Awards Ceremony was a few days ago. The Grammy’s, premiering in 1959, has highlighted the achievements of musicians for years. In 2016 and again, here, in 2017, there has been an outcry that the Grammys are racist and rigged for white singers. Major news outlets have covered this outcry, especially this year. After Adele won yet another Grammy, she stated that Beyoncé should have been up there, winning as well. Beyoncé released the album “Lemonade” last year, which was “unapologetically black” according to Kevin Powell, an author of the forthcoming book on Tupac Shakur (CNN).
The album caused a lot of shockwaves throughout American culture. It was an album that was honest about cultural problems and Adele herself called it “monumental”. The issue here is not about whether or not Beyoncé won an award. The issue is with the mindset of racism that exists in American culture. Instead of pointing out the unprecedented victories of Adele and her incredible talent as a musician, the people that seem to worship the ground that Beyoncé walks on are upset because she did not win an award. Does it really matter whether or not she won an award? Does it affect Beyoncé in any way? Her fans are still her fans and her bank account is not short a few zeros because she didn’t win the Grammy. Celebrities do not have any affect on the general public's life. The obsession with celebrity culture is rampant in America. She will continue to be empowered and will still continue to embrace her femininity and talent regardless of whether or not her fans lose their minds over her awards that she did or did not get.
There is no issue with pointing out that Beyoncé didn’t win an award. The awards have had predominately white winners over the duration of the awards show. This alone does not prove any racism. The award winners are selected by media companies and members of the National Academy of Recording Artists and Sciences. These awards are opinions. The opinion of the members may differ from the general public and the popular opinion but this does not matter. The Grammys do not change a person’s career; that is up to them.
Adele, during her acceptance speech, mentioned that the album “Lemonade” was powerful and said, “the way you make my black friends feel—is empowering…” and there has been backlash for this. Adele, while praising Beyoncé, has come under fire. Have we made it a point where someone can’t say the word “black” unless they are black? No matter what words Adele chose to use to describe her friends, she is talking about what the album was about. “Lemonade” described the struggles and the very real reality of black life in America. Adele saying that her black friends felt empowered is not the issue. If someone is mad about Adele standing up and saying “black friends” on national television, they are the problem.
Whether or not Beyoncé won has no affect on her or the audience that cares about her. Somehow we have arrived, as a nation, that everything is racist. Every time a person of color does not win something or is not on top, it’s racist. That is not the case. People of color are not always going to be on top just because there is more awareness of racism. Yes, racism exists and it is a real problem. No, it can’t be used as a cop out for every pity party when something does not go the way people want them to. Its time for people to stop whining about meaningless awards like the Grammys and start worrying about the places where racism is truly an issue. The Grammys are a superficial representation of the real problem; now get to the bottom of it.
CNN.com and Grammy.org
