Why Did Music Cause A Great Depression In The United States?

After the United States experienced a couple of years of the Roaring Twenties, the American economy plummeted causing a Great Depression. This Great Depression increased the unemployment rate from 3% to 25% drastically changing the lives of millions of Americans. Entertainment during this time period played a big factor, where music particularly played a genuine role in helping Americans forget about their daily hardships caused by the economic decline. People enjoyed listening and dancing to Jazz, particularly swing. Swing during this time period, carried a significant political image that was seen as a threat to the government. The reason swing was seen as a problem was because it posed a challenge to the social order. Swing was very liberal
Nevertheless, all record sales during the depression declined. This was however, a time where music itself was more appreciated because of the declining economy in America. People were losing jobs and homes and music was a perfect outlet for not only Americans but also for musicians. Duke Ellington, a significant musician of the entire Jazz Age, released a song called, “Reminiscing the tempo” in 1935. In this piece, he attempts to break out of the racialized constrictions that were created over the years. Ellington did not like being classified into a particular thing. The white critics during the time, attacked Ellington for being pretentious, but what Ellington was really doing was preparing the world for a five part piece he would release in the forties. Prominent people like Duke Ellington and other musicians continued making music into coming era. While there was a homefront culture war in America, in places like Nazi Germany, Jazz and swing were specifically associated with the African Americans and Jews. In Germany, Jazz was banned in 1939 by the Hitler
Misconceptions about the Harlem Renaissance and the twenties paint the wrong picture when it comes to describing life in Harlem during the twenties. In Harlem, there were low wages, high rents, and very high death rates. African Americans, to this day are still victims to institutions created to maintain these restrictions against minorities. Americans continued to categorize and diminish the African American culture, commercializing it and exploiting it for all its worth. The beauty of this time period was that African Americans were speaking through an art form. The freedom of music, allowed them to express themselves in ways they couldn’t with words. That alone is the beauty of art itself, but with Jazz, African Americans were able to influence a revolution. This revolution did a lot more than entertain Americans during tough times, it spoke up for an entire culture that has been mistreated for decades. The Jazz Age itself can be seen as a political statement against the forces that were meant to keep African Americans inferior. Jazz created a platform that allowed people to use their voices and musical talents to say political things that people couldn’t bluntly say. Even to this day, there are people in America that believe racism doesn't exist. That is