At Cornell West reading about African American music: from bebop to rap; West discussed three main points about African-American music. West also discusses how African-American music has alienated young people. According to West, its rhythmic effects in African-American music make no sense with the status quo. African American music is a reflection on African American culture from its earliest times such as slavery. According to West "First, the rise of the United States as a world power has focused international attention more sharply on the cultural forms and styles native to the United States." As the United States grew in power, African American music also began to exist with social freedom and linguistic richness instead of pecuniary wealth. For example, jazz with its melody and vocalization showed the frustrated aspirations and aggressive emotions of African Americans. The Western agreement is that jazz grew up in socioeconomic and political contexts as a "cool" style of the early 1950s by artists such as Chet Baker and David Brubeck. West agrees that jazz paved the way for various types of music today. African American music has distorted over time. Second point: us...