Friday, October 2, 2009

Cross-Culturalization Today

“In 1930,Gottfried de Purucker, an author and theosophist, warned against intermarriage saying that ‘the race of the future will be a composite, composed of the many different races on earth today. Let us also remember that all men are ultimately of one blood.’” Time Magazine – 1993

I recently saw a trailer for BLAKROC. For those of you that don’t know, this is a collaboration of the rock band, The Black Keys (white guys) and Damon Dash founder of Rocafella Records (black guys). Back in the day Aerosmith and RUN-DMCs “Walk this Way” was considered to be cataclysmic. Mind blowing. Call that perhaps the beginning of a tipping point of Cross-Culturalization also known as Trans-Culturalization as coined by the founder and former CEO of the True Agency, Richard Wayner. A man well ahead of his time.

BLAKROC may not receive as much hype but in my mind it’s that much more telling. Because it’s a true collaboration whereas my belief was that the Aerosmith/RUN-DMC collaboration was a business opportunity. Don’t worry, I fell for it too. We all know that of course this is a business opportunity for Dash. The guy’s a pretty savvy businessman. However, when you watch the trailer you can see that these are artists collaborating and trying to create something. Mark my words, it will be dope. But what is so cool about this collaboration is the cultures, meeting, melding and creating something palpable.

Funny thing is that I wasn’t surprised at hearing about this collaboration. A couple of years ago I recall an article in which the author was shadowing Damon Dash for a day. They’re in Dash’s car and the author was taken aback by what Dash was listening to. John Mayer.

I’ve posted before about my belief that to market to people based on their race or ethnicity is inherently flawed and I still hold firm to my beliefs. It’s 2009 and agencies like Project 2050 should be agencies of record. Fact: by 2042, the racial make-up of this country will be more than 50% NON-WHITE. However we continue to have these ludicrous discussions about how non-representative of society agencies in fact are.

I’m married to a white woman and we have two beautiful mocha babies. I was dating white women, long before it became fashionable. I am a product of my environment, born to Black aristocracy and afforded the luxuries of prep schools and private college. White enclaves. Figures I would choose advertising for a career. Nine years ago my wife and I were defending our union to my wife's parents. Now I can’t even to begin to comprehend what the spectrum of my daughters’ cultural influences will look like. Especially given how early they’re exposed to the presence of multiculturalism via children's programming such as Blues Clues with Salt, Pepper and baby Paprika. Heck, Bratz forced Barbie to find some new friends. And Alas, finally Disney has decided to get with the program and have a “black” princess. Foxy Brown, look out.

A couple of years ago I was asked to speak at a conference on the “multiracial” category. Statistically this is a group that is technically growing exponentially. Feel free to e-mail me for a copy of the presentation.

Here are some quick facts:
The incidence of births of mixed race babies has multiplied 26 times as fast as that of any other group.
• In April 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau added 126 different possible racial combinations.
• 2.4 percent of the U.S. population or 6.8 million people responded to the Census by checking more than one race box those numbers are believed to be severely underrepresented.
• Over the past 30 years, America has produced the greatest number of hybrid households in the history of the world.
• The number of black-white mixed marriages increased by 504% in the last 25 years. Mixed marriages were illegal in as many as 14 states up until 1967.
• In a 1993 Time Magazine poll, 72% stated they knew married couples of different races.
• Among Jews, the number marrying out of their faith has shot up from 10% to 52% since 1960.
• Among Japanese Americans 65% marry people who have no Japanese heritage.

Do you think that there’s a little more than the plot line as to why Grey’s Anatomy and Heroes could be so popular among so many different people?

The Cross-Culturalization of music, fashion and style is astounding. The Roots are doing covers of Bob Dylan. Reggaeton while waning in popularity doesn’t negate the fact Daddy Yankee once had a Direct Effect top 10 video. Mexican kids wearing dime store sandals brought us the Converse One-star slides. Japan has brought us urban vinyl, Anime and the next generation of hot rodding in tuner cars. And while Americans are still eating up the Japanese tuner scene, the Japanese have gone Euro. Hip Hop styles are well entrenched in the action sports culture. I’m sure 20 years ago New Era never thought they’d be making the 59FIFTY with a Red Bull logo. Five years ago, I’m sure NASCAR never predicted the Japanese influence of drifting or the European influence of rally racing now an X-Games staple.

Not too long ago, the writer Carolina Miranda did a DNA test to discover literally where she came from. She learned that she was not what she thought she was and I think she sums up a way of thinking about better ways to approach consumers other than by race or ethnicity. The reality is that racial purity is largely a myth and as she stated in a Time Magazine article, “True identity, it seems, resides not in our genes but in our mind”.

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