Killing in the Name, Rage Against the Machine

Let me give a few disclaimers before I get into this. I coached rowing, a sport that often appeals to the wealthy. Boats are expensive, boathouses are expensive, and the roots of the sport (in this country) run deep in the Ivy League. Thankfully the branches have extended beyond those borders so that people from all backgrounds are able to access it with some luck and hard work. Let me also say that the kids I coached, at every level I coached, on every team I coached, were awesome. The best kids. 

So one day, several years ago while I was still coaching, I was invited to participate in an erg workout, an interval training session on a rowing machine. Being a team player and someone always looking for a good workout, I accepted the invitation. The workout ended up being 1000m pieces, roughly 4’ (but less if you’re good) at high intensity followed by some amount of rest, and this is repeated a bunch of times. It is a hard workout, mentally and physically. Thank god for music to distract and motivate. 

Erging is easier with loud music. Some people can run or do other kinds of workouts without music, and respect to those folks. They’re probably mentally tougher than I am. I will submit that erging without music of some kind is impossible. It’s gotta be. Don’t research it though. The style of music almost doesn’t matter as long as it’s loud and has a good beat. It probably helps if you like it, but at some point during the workout, the ability for preference can just turn off if you let it. 

Enter: Rage Against the Machine. This is not a band I often listen to outside of working out. But at least one Rage song has been on every erging playlist I’ve ever made. Anger is powerful, and these guys carry righteous energy through each song like a flaming sword. Just try not to feel pumped up by the end of a song like Killing in the Name. 

This song is about racial injustice carried out by law enforcement. It was written back in 1992 in direct response to the violence carried out by police against Rodney King. Obviously it resonates loudly again in the wake of these public murders committed by ICE. The song super angry and ragey, and ends with Zack de la Rocha shouting, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!” about twenty times, which I find highly motivating, especially at the end of a workout.

Now, am I, a white woman, the intended audience for this song? Probably not, knowing its context, but protesting against racial injustice is always a message I’m going to get behind, and rising up against The Man in whatever context is something I support. Plus, I really hate it when anyone tells me what to do.

During this workout, I became aware that this group of white, extremely upper class men did not realize that they are The Man. I don’t think these guys were evil. A couple of them were very friendly to me despite the extreme wealth gap - wealth gulf - that existed between us. But they may not have understood who The Machine was that they were supposed to be Raging Against. 

And I didn’t say anything, of course. I think one of them chuckled at the end of the song when de la Rocha belts out a guttural “Motherfuckerrr” unconnected to any other lines. The chuckle was like, “ok, guy, that’s not necessary,” because this man had never truly needed to rage against anything in his entire life. Years later, this same man would yell at me, a grown man raising his voice in public to a grown woman, irate over the disparity in T-shirt choices between our team and another team. 

These guys were not ICE. They may not have even been trumpers. But they had no idea why young men of color would be so angry about police in America. They were out of touch and unaware of their extreme privilege. I’m trying to tread carefully here because this is not to say rich people can’t listen to Rage Against the Machine. It was just an awkward moment I’m still thinking about 5 or 6 years later. The people of the upper classes can afford to not care. Their money and status offers so much protection that they don’t need to be aware of the problems in this country if they don’t want to be.

But how different am I? I’m not wealthy, but I’m privileged to not be in harm’s way at the moment. Maybe you are too. I hope you are. We’ve just seen, with the events in Minnesota, what hate-fueled violence looks like, but this is the same type of violence that’s been playing out against people of color forever. It has long been the time to act. 

My intent is not to paint these guys, or all rich white men, as The Problem. My hope is that we can, collectively, start helping people slide from feeling Outside the Scope of the Problem to feeling like The Solution. Or part of the solution anyway. 

You know that feeling, towards the beginning of a workout, before you start sweating, before you’re really warmed up, but you’re about to break a sweat? You feel all awkward and maybe itchy and a little uncomfortable. The only way through it is to keep pushing through it. If you quit or back off, it’ll take longer to warm up and you probably won’t have as good of a workout. If you focus in a little, take a few deep breaths and dig a little deeper for a few strokes/strides/whatevers, you’ll start sweating and feel great in no time. This is where we are. We’re getting warmed up. We’re about to break a sweat. We’re uncomfortable. Push through. To borrow from another Rage song, “What better place than here, what better time than now?”