The Darker Side of Black - ACE274.5

SEX CULTURE The sea with a storm brewing. Commentary says that "bad dreams are turning into violent reality for some but most don’t seem to care". The gun’s new target is "queers". Commentary says that Musician, Buju Banton "laughs when asked why feelings of hate animate his songs". He says his song is not intended to incite anyone but it is "basically a warning". Musician, Karl Frazer, believes that Banton doesn’t "have the capacity … to really deal with the enormity of the can of worms that he’s opened". He doesn’t believe that Boom Bye Bye advocates violence even though it says one has the right to kill someone whom one dislikes. More of Boom Bye Bye. Banton, responding to the question of does it incite violence against homosexuals, says that he doesn’t believe songs move people to violence but "there is no way the wicked can ever prosper". A black gay youth interviewed in Greenwich Village, New York, says the song has caused unnecessary rifts between blacks and whites. Headline from Capital Gay saying "Attacks ‘on the rise’ in south London". Writer David Dibosa says that his personal experience is that songs like Boom Bye Bye has caused an increase in homophobia, with people even using "gun" gestures against him, and describes an incident in which he and his boyfriend were attacked by a large group of men. Magazine cover suggesting violence against black gays in Brooklyn. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, New York, Donald Suggs, talks about trying to have Boom Bye Bye countered on radio by more positive messages. Jamaican Tourist Board, Aston Cooke, says the song drew much less criticism in Jamaica because it was considered as "not fit for air play" on radio, and the culture of the dancehall, where the records was heard, is already homophobic. Dancers in club. Frazer talks about how feminine styles have been adopted by dancehall-going men because "there is safety in numbers". Cooke points out that homosexuality has always been illegal in Jamaica. O’Connor talks about the strong negative public reaction to rumours that this situation might be changed. Director of Programming, Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation, Radio 1 & 2, Gladstone Wilson, believes that, had a pro-change march taken place as planned, there would have been a good deal of violence against the participants. O’Connor talks about how, in the past, men would have been beaten to death if suspected of homosexual contact.