In my article I will criticize the influence that reggae music has had on British society. I will focus on the impact that immigrants arriving from Jamaica in the 1960s and 1970s had on the process of integrating black and white communities in Britain. I will primarily critique the effect that the rise of reggae music in the media had on the integration process and how it subsequently helped Britain transform from a closed, conservative society of the 1970s to a country that pioneered the multiculturalism of the 1980s . to understand what I am focusing on in my article, I need to first explain what I mean by the word media and which aspect of the media I will focus on in my article. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Media is a tool or way in which we can receive news, promotional messages, and entertainment through communication channels. The media covers a large area, which makes explanation complicated. Media are means such as TV, magazines, newspapers, radio, mail or the Internet through which we as viewers, listeners or receivers receive information. usually two forms of media communication are considered, media and mass media. The difference is that mass media occurs when information transfers to a large number of consumers/viewers/listeners at the same time, for example, radio stations that have thousands of listeners, listening to a song/news story or other live broadcasts all at the same time time and on the other hand, an online video that was watched separately one by one from the comfort of your home/office or just by pressing a button while on the go. Music is a means of communication and can be used when related to media, as a way to express feelings, share culture and convey a message directly or subtly. Media is a very broad term and covers many aspects, so in this essay I will focus on the impact music has on media. The media I will criticize is music. Music is an art, but it is also a form of media. But what exactly is music? Music is part of our culture and history and some aspects of music can also be considered valued. We are surrounded by music in our daily lives. it is a combination of sounds that might be pleasant to listen to for the human senses. Music normally consists of rhythm, beats and style. There are many types of musical genres, each genre is determined by the unique patterns, particular sounds or instruments used. For example, punk rock has a fast rhythm and the kick usually follows the count of 1 and 3 when counting to 4, whereas blues has the same kick pattern, but a slower rhythm and other characters that completely differentiate it from punk rock. Art is about taste and many people have different thoughts and preferences, in some cases music can be controversial when mixing genres or creating new art that mixes characters from different genres. The main purpose of music is to create something new or unique to express the artist's goal. Music can be a tool for social influence and change and is a powerful form of communication. Music can be personal, political, opportunistic and self-expressive with therapeutic effects due to the release of emotions. To fully understand my article, you need to understand what I'm talking about when I say Great Britain and England. Great Britain, also often known as the United Kingdom, is an island located in Europe. Great Britain consists of the following countries England, Scotland and Wales. England is a country that is part of theGreat Britain and the United Kingdom. Its capital is London and the population in the 1970s was estimated at around 53 million. Today the population is estimated at approximately 66.5 million. In the 1970s the population was mostly white. In terms of religion, the majority of the population were Church of England or Roman Catholic. The England of the 1970s was very different to the England we know today. It had a large working class population and there was a large and obvious divide between upper, middle and lower class communities. England during this period was predominantly white. In England in the 1970s there was still an ongoing debate about race and class, as blacks sought to integrate into what was a predominantly white society, and as black immigrants arrived they were forced to integrate into white working class communities. This brings me to the next point where I will explain what immigration is and where the 1970s immigrants came from and what effect immigrants coming to Britain had on British society. Immigration occurs when people leave their home country and move abroad to a new country to start a new life. During the 1960s and 1970s, Britain received large numbers of immigrants from many different countries. There was a large arrival of Irish immigrants who integrated quite easily into British society, this was mainly due to the fact that they belonged to the same ethnic origin, shared similarities in terms of religion and spoke the same language. However, there were also other immigrants who arrived in Britain during this period who were not so easily accepted by the British communities. One such group that had some trouble integrating was the Jamaicans. After the Second World War, there was a high demand for labor in the United Kingdom. Jamaican immigrants came for many different reasons, such as studies and a higher standard of living, but mainly for work. In the early 1960s, an estimated 150,000 immigrants from the West Indies were living in Britain, by 1971 this number had almost doubled, there were 313,00 West Indians living in Britain, in these figures Jamaicans accounted for 171,000 of the 313,000. During the 1970s there were also many other smaller groups of immigrants arriving from countries such as Pakistan and Kenya. Since I will primarily focus on the influence that Jamaican immigrants had on race relations in England, it is vital to have a basic understanding of the history of Jamaica and its people. The reason why many Jamaicans chose to emigrate to Britain over other English-speaking countries was mainly due to the fact that England had previously colonized Jamaica. In 1655 the English took control of the Spanish who had previously colonized Jamaica. Jamaica officially became a British colony from 1707 to 1962. In 1962, Jamaica gained freedom from Great Britain and was officially declared an independent country. The people of Jamaica were historically used as slaves by the English and were exploited and forced into slave labor by the English who viewed Jamaicans as a cheap labor force during the 19th century. The slave trade was officially made illegal in 1807, however, actual slavery did not end until 1 August 1834, after legislation had been passed by the British Parliament the previous year. This dark part of Britain's past has contributed to racism towards black people and imposed the wrong social hierarchy on the population. This hierarchy at the time saw iwhites as superior to blacks, this topic is a highly debated topic today and has been studied by many theorists such as Frantz Fanon and Stuart Hall. England in the 1960s and 1970s was a more developed country than Jamaica in terms of better facilities, greater job protection and better quality of life, even though only 30 years had passed since the end of the Second World War. The years following the Second World War were followed by important historical events that shaped England, its fundamental values ​​and the main beliefs held by British society. There was a rise in nationalism in Britain after the Second World War and a strong pride in being British. Britain in the early 1900s was largely made up of white Christian communities. THE arrival of immigrants in Britain has started to make racist phrases more popular. The word “race hatred” was first used in the media in the late 1920s and words such as racism became a more frequently used word in the United Kingdom after 1936. Although 1960s Britain already had much experience with the arrival of new immigrants, Britain was still a predominantly white society that had racist tendencies and values. There were many cases of racism during the 1960s and 1970s and many incidents were reported to the police, such as the refusal of white landlords to sell or rent their properties to blacks and particularly people from the Caribbean. There have also been other similar cases, such as those of barbers. refusing to allow immigrants into their salons. A famous and most well-known act of racism that took place in the public eye, happened during the 1964 election. In the town of Smethwick, the Conservative party ran a very anti-black and anti-immigrant campaign. The party openly discriminated against blacks and campaigned on hateful sentiments. They promoted segregation between black and white communities throughout the campaign. This led to outbreaks of violence in the town of Smethwick and across Britain. Violent actions on both sides had split the community in two and divided many people in the country. Due to the violent actions that occurred during the elections, the Race Relations Act 1965 was passed by the British Parliament. It was the first piece of legislation in the UK to address the prohibition of racial discrimination and followed previously unsuccessful bills. The law prohibited racial discrimination in public places and made it a crime to promote hatred on grounds of "colour, race, ethnic or national origin". After the passing of the Act, there was a further increase in the number of people moving to the UK. At the time the law was passed, almost one million immigrants were living in the UK. The law was heavily criticized for failing to address vital areas where discrimination was most evident in areas such as employment and in broader aspects such as finding accommodation. Due to the Race Relations Act 1965 which was insufficient and did not cover all required areas. This led to the creation and subsequent passage of the Race Relations Act of 1968, which made illegal acts of discrimination in employment, housing and advertising illegal. I should include Jamaica details Although many laws had been put in place, they were still not breaking down the divide between the two communities. The music scene in Jamaica has always been important and has had a lot of influence on Jamaican society. Popular songs on the Jamaican music scene were directly linked to Jamaica's history and its cultural spirit, which is why during the 1960sthere was a notable increase in nationalism and awareness of independence in Jamaica among the people. This became even more true when the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation was formed in 1959 and began to influence Jamaican society through local Jamaican music. Music began to play an important role in bringing the two communities together. They began to unite in their love of reggae music, but what was reggae music and why did this bring both communities together? Reggae is a musical genre that has its roots in Jamaican culture. The unique characters of this type of music are slow rhythms, clean guitar chords with reverb and delay effects used with unique strumming techniques and spiritual lyrics. The idea of ​​reggae music comes from traditional Buru drumming, Buru drumming was an Ashanti-Jamaican style of drumming. Its origins lie in the history of the Jamaican slave trade, when slaves worked in fields or other large areas. Slave masters allowed the Buru drum to be played as it provided a rhythm for the slaves' work. Once slavery was abolished, most of the "Buru" players moved to the slums of Kingston (capital of Jamaica), and this is where reggae music originated. Reggae music was created when the old "Buru" drums were combined with biblical themes of oppression and liberation, thus developing into what we recognize today as reggae music. During the rise of reggae music in the slums of Kingston, a new religion known as Rastafari was also born.”. In 1930 a man named Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. Many believed he was a spiritual messenger and god sent to earth to lead Africa to freedom. One of his names was "Prince Ras Tafari" and people who believed in this were called "Rastafari". The Rastafari religion began to embrace reggae music as its own and the connection between reggae and Rastafarian grew and both began to be a symbol. for the other. In the early 1950s reggae music began to develop, reggae was mixed with elements of American jazz, black rhythm and blues and from this the “ska” genre was born. Ska has its origins in reggae music but has a faster pace. In the 1960s reggae emerged, the slow pace and emphasis on the bass and the connection the songs had to stories of urban deprivation and the power of collective social consciousness. In 1964 Ska music was the most popular music genre in Jamaica, it had a cultural and political connection with the people and therefore was so popular. During the mid-1960s reggae music was becoming popular around the world, reggae music had begun to show the world the spirit of the Jamaican people. The music helped create an image of Jamaica and began to promote Jamaican culture and politics to the world. The songs spoke about the individual stories and experiences of the musical artists, their beliefs, goodwill or romantic experiences. Reggae music has had a great impact on the relationship between blacks and whites throughout history, it has political, personal and spiritual significance. During the 1960s artists like "Bob Marley" were the main symbols of reggae music, these artists helped promote the genre. influenced other new genres and artists and became the link between the black and white communities of 1970s Britain. It was the first time in predominantly white Britain that black and white communities had come together and united in their passion for the same music. As more and more people from both communities began listening to Caribbean music, a new chapter of sharing cultures began.From the start going to reggae concerts and performing on the same stage in black and white. Music brought this connection between two parties together and people were able to share the same passion and love for music and on a larger scale started communicating about everyday life problems. A form of cultural exchange began to take place in schools when Caribbean children brought music to school. In addition to this, old and new British rock bands, punk bands and artists began to merge their musical styles with reggae music and began to embrace some characteristics of reggae in their songs. “As long as reggae has existed, there has been reggae in the UK, and that influence has played a huge role,” says producer and DJ Ras Kwame, who has worked at BBC Radio for more than a decade. Reggae's contribution to the British music scene began in the 1950s, when Jamaican immigration to the UK reached a record high. In the early 1960s, British sound systems flourished and British ska music by artists such as Millie Small reached the top of the Billboard charts. The first people who listened to ska were mainly skinheads, punks and clubbers, which eventually helped the genre become popular on a more mainstream level and began to attract the entire community. Reggae music in the UK has evolved and gained popularity due to its play on thestreet. Reggae has become an underground code of resistance and part of the journey of self-exploration. “We rejected the caution and restraint our parents had in a racially hostile environment,” Linton Kwesi Johnson said. "We were the rebellious generation - Reggae gave us our identity. The listeners and it was certainly a critical point in the relationship that was forming between the Caribbean communities and the white communities of Britain, began to share their culture and began to form a common culture within the UK. White British audiences and listeners were able to relate to the feelings of immigrants through the culture presented in the songs. The stories in the songs about Jamaica, the life experiences, the history of its people, their feelings and emotions with the struggle of everyday life. Communities began to mix. clubs like the "soul club" or big concerts like Al Green or Stevie Wonder was one of the most famous reggae artists of the time, his reggae style had a clear influence on rock and punk fans, black youth and Rastafari was one of the first musicians who managed to have a multicultural following of fans. After Marley, reggae began to be taken more seriously and to be considered a musical genre full of substance and innovation. During the late 1970s many concerts involving rock and reggae began to take place across the UK, both communities coming together and combining. their musical ideas. Not only were ideas shared, but audiences also began to change and become multicultural with black and white crowds at concerts, standing together and uniting in their love of reggae and ska music. During that period there was a decline in neo-fascism and the National Front was losing its power in favor of a more musical cross-pollination attitude that became the norm. Rock-reggae groups like The Police, the Specials, Homegrown and Janet Kay occupied the charts in the 1970s. Furthermore, famous groups such as UB40, Culture Club, Soul II Soul banded together and united regardless of race. The well-known Soul II Soul singer Caron Wheeler said at the time: "You can't tell the color anymore, it's just the people." He explained perfectly how the 1970s were the first years in Britain to demonstrate.