Power And Privilege In Song Of El Sur

Power and privilege is one of the most common discussions regarding issues in America. It is having the freedom and opportunities more than others, and often times this power and privilege isn’t earned it is given to those unfairly. The factors that decide between those who have power and those who don’t are becoming almost unbelievable. The simple color of one’s skin, something they have no control over can put you at a disadvantage for no reason beyond the fact that your skin is not the same as someone else’s. Two examples of this lack of balanced power come from first, the article referred to in class “Song of El Sur” which discussions the lyrics of songs written by discriminated Mexicans who come to America in search of a better life, and find that the south is not the answer they were looking for. The second example is a music video I came across on Facebook recently. The name of the video is “I’m not a racist”, it is a rap song where a white man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, and a black man are sitting at a table in a warehouse discussing, (more of

If society would lose the stipulation that those of different skin and different ways are wrong and lower than us we will see a shift of power and privilege from those entitled to it to those who deserve it. The lyrics of the songs referenced in “Song of El Sur” and the lyrics of “I’m Not Racist” both help describe the view of those oppressed and how society can change to help erase that oppression. Of course this isn’t a switch we can flip and expect an overnight flip, but by everybody working together and being accepting of one another we will not need the separation of power over one another. Until we can achieve equality within our country we will suffer from this unfair divide between those who have power and privilege and those who do