The history of swing dates back to the 1920s in New York. Swing represents the coming together of the white and black music that escalated to an international war against racial prejudice. Prior to the Swing Era, 1935-1947, the music in U.S. industry was as segregated as the American society. The whites listened to their own music that originated from fox tracks. The blacks listened to the music with African origin and the Jazz of New Orleans (Stevens and Stevens 81).
The effects of slavery were evident in daily activities of people in the US. However, swing was bringing musicians together to compose new music that was increasingly getting popularity among the American youths. Black and White musicians could play together as the movement to end racial discrimination started to take shape.
The ideologies of the swing music include ethnic pluralism, gender and democratic equality. Despite the popularity of swing, the American populace still held racial prejudices that led to some shows lacking radio publicity. Publicity was critical to the success of these types of music. Billie Holiday suffered racial prejudice when she went on tour with her band in 1938, presenting the mixed feelings towards African-American ((Stevens and Stevens 95).
When the World War II broke, swing was the popular music, and it was central in the war propaganda. Swing blended well with the position of the Allied Forces fighting fascism due to its ideologies of equality. The music became popular in Britain as German discouraged its broadcast. However, Germany started the Nazi swing which countered the ideologies of the Americans.
Swing was used to introduce the concept of equality in a fun and passive way that got acceptance around the world. The music, musicians, and governments used the popular music to combat and rally people in support of the Allied Forces in World War II.
Work Cited
Stevens, Tamara. Swing Dancing: The American Dance Floor. Ed. Erin Stevens. California: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Print.
“The Swing Thing.” Dir. BBC Four. 2011. Film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClN0P0F5e0U&feature=youtu.be
