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Prejudice And Racism Exposed In David Dellinger's Hair

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Hippie leader David Dellinger was known for being an activist and protesting the Vietnam War. Hair depicted the revolt against the Vietnam War through the perspective of the hippies. This gained the attention of the hippies who were protesting the war and the veterans who had previously fought in war. Hippies were largely made up of veterans who were unsatisfied with the treatment of the American people. Hippies worked to provide for the less fortunate and change America’s political system (Miller 79-86). Hippies lived incredibly free lives. Some hippies were farmers and lived like the early Americans. They also practiced sexual freedom by having multiple partners at once and not committing to one person at a time. An example of this in Hair, is how Jeanie, one of the hippies Claud meets in New York, is pregnant but unaware of who the …show more content…

Racial inequality created segregation in the working class (Reich 314). In Hairspray, blacks are only invited to dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month on “Negro Day.” The white cast members act as though they are supportive of blacks being invited to dance on the show, but they secretly discriminated against them and are out to get them. Racism was more prevalent in urban areas which is why Hairspray was set in Baltimore, Maryland (Reich 314). Racism and segregation is addressed in Hairspray because of the fact that African Americans are only invited to perform on the Corny Collins Show on Negro Day (Haspel 24). As sung in the show, “Nice, white kids who like to lead the way, and once a month we have our "negro day!" (Shaiman) These lyrics from the show, shows the racism on the show. Racism also affects the show as a whole because the racist owner of the TV station won’t let a black girl dance on the show (Little Inez). Tracy Turnblad, the protagonist of Hairspray, uses her popularity from the show to advocate for African Americans (Haspel

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The first predominate issue occurring throughout Hair is inequality of race. This really stood out to me because these are still huge issues today, nearly 50 years later. Something really cool about this musical is that is was a front runner for racial integration on broadway with 1/3 of the cast being African American. Race is addressed throughout the show but primarily in the songs "Black Boys", "White Boys", and "Dead End". In which they talk about issues such as miscegenation and alienation.

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In the musical Hairspray, main character Tracy Turnblad questions whether it is righteous that blacks and white be separated on television. After auditioning and being cast onto The Corny Collins Show, a local teen dance television show, Tracy befriends Maybelle, the host of the monthly "Negro Day". Through this friendship, Tracy realizes that all humans deserve to be treated equally, and initiates a campaign for racial integration on television. Had Tracy remained at home with her prejudiced white family, and never been exposed to the blatant racial inequality behind the scenes of the show and its effect on the careers of its African American dancers, Tracey never would have realized the fault in the principle of “separate but equal.”. She would have remained narrow-minded, with a different set of values.

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