I was just informed that the Satanic Skinhead Propaganda release of VAGINAL JESUS "Affirmative Apartheid" is no longer allowed to be sold on Discogs. Apparently, when Discogs was written to ask the reasoning behind this, they received the same blanket statement that seems to be what everyone else is receiving. This is just the beginning and more will most assuredly follow.
My opinion on this matter is varied and there are many different angles that one can view and approach this situation.
Some questions that others who have stores with hundreds and or thousands of releases in stock at Discogs should ask and ascertain what their criteria will be for deciding which releases/bands will not be allowed to be sold on the site any longer are:
- Will they instate a "zero tolerance" and "equal" set of rules that will be hard line/stringent and without any exceptions?
- If so, will EVERY release that falls under, for example, "Racial discrimination" fall into the category of "not able to be sold on the Discogs marketplace"?.
- If this is indeed the case and will be put into effect under their rules and guidlines, will releases by SKREWDRIVER be looked at any differently than those by black rap "artists" such as DA LENCH MOB, ICE CUBE, DR DRE and countless others who have racially discriminating and derogatory lyrics towards non Blacks?
-Will records with lyrics such as:
"Fuck them laws, because the Mob is coming raw; nigga, is you down because it's the Final Call. . . . grab your gat; know the three will start busting; I'm trying to take them down. . . . the war of wars with no fucking scores. . . . April 29 was a chance to realize . . . the g.'s are out to kill. . . . we got crackers to kill; sending them back in on a ship to Europe. . . . they deserve it. . . . a nation-wide riot across America. . . . this is the Final Call on black man and black woman, rich and poor; rise up";
--"Final Call"; Da Lench Mob, Planet of da Apes, 1994, Priority Records, Thorn EMI; now called The EMI Group, United Kingdom.
"We're having thoughts of overthrowing the government. . . . the brothers and sisters threw their fists in the air. . . . it's open season on crackers, you know; the morgue will be full of Caucasian John Doe's. . . . I make the Riot shit look like a fairy tale. . . . oh my god, Allah, have mercy; I'm killing them devils because they're not worthy to walk the earth with the original black man; they must be forgetting; it's time for Armageddon, and I won't rest until they're all dead";
--"Goin Bananas"; Da Lench Mob, Planet of da Apes, 1994, Priority Records, Thorn EMI; now called The EMI Group, United Kingdom.
"He preys on old white ladies [who] drive the Mercedes with the windows cracked. . . . you should've heard the bitch screaming. . . . sticking guns in crackers' mouths. . . . the cops can't stop it. . . . remember 4-29-92, come on; Florence and Normandy coming to a corner near you, cracker; we've been through your area, mass hysteria; led by your motherfucking Menace Clan";
--"Mad Nigga"; Menace Clan, Da Hood, 1995, Rap-A-Lot Records, Noo Trybe Records, Time Warner, USA.
be deemed "unacceptable to be sold in the Discogs marketplace" because they clearly are racially discriminatory and violent? Or will they be exempt because SONY, TIME WARNER/WARNER BROTHERS, UNIVERSAL, EMI and the like released those records? Will their decision also be based upon the fact they see no reason to not allow those records to be sold within their marketplace, as one can easily purchase any of those records at Walmart, Target, gas stations, flea markets etc?
- Will their decision also be based upon the fact that those records are pressed in the hundreds of thousands, and some such as ICE CUBE, in the millions and are distributed by the largest Record Companies in the world?
- Will Discogs enforce their rules across the board, and "equally" to ANY record that falls under that category, whether released by small independent, underground labels such as Filth & Violence and Satanic Skinhead Propaganda, or released by the 3 largest mainstream labels in the world, Universal, Sony and Warner?
If I had a store on Discogs that primarily stocks and sells underground music that caters to those with "Taboo" interests, and this decision could potentially cause my business to lose what could possibly be thousands of dollars, I would expect these questions to be answered.
However, we all know the answer to every question already.
