Stasis Theory of "Is it Because I'm Black?"

In order to apply stasis theory to Syl Johnson's song, it is first necessary to understand some historical context. While the early Civil Rights movement of the1960s succeeded to pass laws which guaranteed equal rights for African Americans under the law, the movement in the late 60s and early 70s moved on to raise the standard of living for the large population of the race living in poverty. Acts such as The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made it illegal to discriminate on housing based on race and court cases such as the Supreme Court case Green V. County School Board of New Kent County made desegregation of schools a priority. All were attempts by the government to improve the socio-economic status of African Americans, many of who were stuck in urban housing with poor education and little opportunity to leave.

As you can see from this graph, the unemployment rate of African Americans in the early 1970s was about twice the average unemployment rate. In his 1970 song "Is it Because I'm Black?", singer Syl Johnson links the high unemployment rate of African Americans to a prejudice held by many white Americans against people with a darker skin tone. Thus, in the context of stasis theory, Johnson would be arguing that the cause of the disparity between black and white people in America is no longer entirely blatant racism, but a subconscious aversion held by most white people to give jobs, let alone high-paying jobs, to African Americans. Johnson's emotional plea reflects his desire to radically change the low socio-economic status of African Americans in the 1970s. His words still ring true today, as there still exists a gap, if not quite as large, between the average unemployment and the unemployment of African Americans.

-Daniel Saliunas