"Castles Made of Sand": Racial Ambiguity and Mid-twentieth Century American Musicians

Racial Ambiguity and the Sale of Identity and Art

Although the midcentury years were a key period in the commodification of racial ambiguity, as well as the development of its use as a license for complex artistic expression that defied racialized genre restrictions in music, these modes of culture have continued.

In 1981, rising star Prince released a song and album entitled Controversy, where he coyly asked, "Am I Black or white? Am I straight or gay?" answering his own query with a sly answer, "controversy." By doing so, Prince simultaneously mocked and amplified outside speculation about his identity, which was inextricably linked to the art and entertainment he produced for sale.

Musicians who used racial ambiguity as part of their craft often used it to critique homogenized constructions of race, opening the door for more complex understandings of racial identity. Those efforts, however, have been unsuccessful in dismantling racialized codings of art, music, images and entertainment, leaving Charles Mingus' dream of a "colorless island" far out of reach of contemporary platforms for popular culture.

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