Disclaimers
Phonographia.com and Friends of the
Phonograph have used recordings from the University of California
Santa Barbara Library Collection, the Library of Congress National
Jukebox, i78s.org, archive.org and other historical and cultural documents,
recordings and images which reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and
beliefs of different times. We do not endorse the views expressed
in those respective documents, images and recordings which may contain
content offensive to visitors of this site.
The following Library of Congress and
UCSB Disclaimers are included here to emphasize the importance of
this distinction between presenting historical materials versus endorsing
and/or accepting those views.
Library of Congress Disclaimer
The National Jukebox is a project of
the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation.
The goal of the Jukebox is to present to the widest audience possible
early commercial sound recordings, offering a broad range of historical
and cultural documents as a contribution to education and lifelong
learning. These selections are presented as part of the record of
the past. They are historical documents which reflect the attitudes,
perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress
does not endorse the views expressed in these recordings, which may
contain content offensive to users.
UC Santa Barbara Library Disclaimer
About "Dialect Recordings"
"Coon songs," "rube sketches," "Irish
character songs," and other dialect recordings that were popular in
vaudeville routines and genres of songs during the late 19th and early
20th century often contain negative stereotypes and portrayals of
blacks and other ethnic groups. These recordings reflect the attitudes,
perspectives, and beliefs of different times. Many individuals may
find the content offensive. Some of these songs and recitations were
written or performed by members of the ethnic group in question, while
others were not, such as the tradition of blackface minstrelsy of
whites performing caricatured portrayals of blacks. To exclude these
cylinders from the digital collection would deprive scholars and the
public the opportunity to learn about the past and would present a
distorted picture of popular culture and music making during this
time period. The mission of the UCSB Library is to make its resources
available to the faculty, staff, and students of the university community
and to the general public. The UCSB Library presents these documents
as part of the record of the past and does not endorse the views expressed
in these collections.
Other Perspectives
For another perspective regarding the
curation and preservation of sound recordings with racist language
see the New York Times October 14, 2020 article "How
to Handle the Hate in America’s Musical Heritage". A companion
to their “Anthology of American Folk Music” had already been 'pressed'
when Lance and April Ledbetter realized they couldn’t live with releasing
racist songs.
The Ledbetter's chose to redo the CDs
and eliminate several songs from the final release.
In my opinion lyrics in those removed
songs were clearly offensive, however, omitting sounds and images
from any historical record does not change its history or the reality
of what previous generations and popular culture believed and accepted
as part of their daily life. Clearly we do not want to reinforce stereotypes
by displaying or listening to words that can be insidious to human
consciousness, but "unexamined stereotypes" are harmful.
(1)
I also think whatever we experience
during our lifetimes must always be considered and "processed"
with humility and with the recognition that future generations will
have judgments about our own time period. Decisions and actions that
we have taken as human beings during my lifetime will require others
to include "disclaimers" when they document the historical
record of "the baby boomers."
Courtesy of New York
Times and Katty Huertas