The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia by Matthew F. Delmont

The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia Reviews

• 
  James

  Delmont gets to the heart of the iconic show American Bandstand, which was a nationally televised music and dancing youth-centered show that ran from 1957-1963. Evolving from a local Philadelphia program at the recording studios of WFIL at West Philadelphia's 46th and Market intersection, Delmont shows how the show created an imagined all-white (including "ethnic" whites and white women) youth culture in its audience members instead of using the local multiracial youth subcultures. While Dick Clark, the host, claimed later that the show was integrated, Delmont shows how, while black performers were brought in, the audience rarely had any black faces and was not integrated in any meaningful way. The reasoning came back to advertising dollars instead of outspoken white supremacist views (which the show producers may or may not have held), since they feared upsetting either national white audiences or the neighboring West Philadelphia white home owners fighting to prevent working class black people from buying homes in the area.
  
  Delmont skillfully interlaces the history of the show and its informal segregation with the racial tensions and animosity of Philadelphia during the period, as entire white neighborhoods sold and moved to the suburbs at the height of the Great Migration of poor black people moved from the South to Northern cities. Housing in cities was a contested terrain, and Philly was no different. The white homeowners association tried to pressure black homeowners to stay within the "Black Bottom" neighborhood and not move into white west philly neighborhoods. In Philadelphia Public Schools, the system steered black teens away from academics to unskilled menial job training. American Bandstand sought to not upset this balance, claiming integration rhetoric but then punting the issues by claiming segregation in schools was because of residential patterns outside its control.
  
  On the otherhand, Delmont demonstrates the alternatives to American bandstand, such as shows like They Shall Be Heard, that showed black and white teenagers enjoying multiracial acts together and not shying away from featuring black teenagers prominently. Local radio host Georgie Young also became enormously popular as a black DJ who fought for alternative venues for black political and cultural expression. While many times youth spaces like bowling alleys, roller skating rings, snack bars and parties were supposed to be segregated by the business owners for white youth, that dynamic broke down as teenagers often went to each others parties, though that began to stop in the 1960s. American Bandstand contributed to the separation of national youth subcultures by presenting them as "wholesome", meaning white. 
  
  This book is excellent for understanding both the history of Philadelphia neighborhoods in the 1950s-60s and racial turmoil, but also how musical culture and corporate america shaped visions of youth expression during the era and helped contribute to the informal segregation of today. Even while American Bandstand helped normalize white ethnics, like Italians, to much of the country, as well as provide venues of music and dancing for teenage girls who had no such access otherwise, Delmont demonstrates how American Bandstand's progressive memory is overstated and sometimes, just the opposite. This pairs well with Countryman's Up South: Civil Rights and Black Power in Philadelphia.
• 
  Gayle

  I absolutely recommend this book to all Americans! Especially since the recent passing of Dick Clark.
  
  Mr. Delmont reminds us of two important things about the U.S. in the 1950s & 1960s that still resonate in 2012. 1) American Bandstand was an American commercial enterprise that was not in the forefront of segregation, and 2) American Bandstand's mission was to reach a new growing teenaged consumer population. The show was designed for that from the beginning, meaning that its purpose was not only to reach as many teens as it could, and therefore sell as much product as possible, but also to keep from offending as many of those teens, and their parents, as possible.
  
  You cannot have it both ways. You cannot increase your ratings on commercial television by taking a stand on a very controversial subject, such as race relations and integration were in the 1950s & 1960s. It couldn't be done then, and it can't be done now!
  
  This is also an excellent history of segregation in housing, education, employment, and overall opportunity in Philadelphia that represents a microcosm of the United States.
• 
  Leigh

  Interesting and depressing analysis of racism on American Bandstand, and of the larger societal context in which it took place. It's good that someone set the record straight on what was really going on on that iconic show, especially since Dick Clark liked to boast about how racially liberated the show was. Would that that were true!
• 
  Courtney

  After reading NKIT the integrationist claims made by Dick Clark seem ridiculous. A great example of how things are remembered and how things really were (memory/counter-memory). The interdisciplinary approach is well done, pairing television history with local history. Fusing the two makes for properly contextualized stories. A bit repetitive at moments, but pretty good overall.