GUEST COLUMN: "Compact Disc Reflections"

Some call it business sense, others call it racism. Recently, while browsing through the soundtrack section in one of Houston Hall's record stores, I found that some of the compact discs had photocopies in place of their normal liner notes -- you know, those glossy little booklets that slide in behind the plastic covers. There's a good chance you never noticed the photocopied booklets. I didn't pay much attention to them either, until I saw a pattern. Curiously, the photocopied booklets were only in the CD's which contained music classified as "urban contemporary" -- most of it rap, including soundtracks to recent movies such as "Juice," "New Jack City," and "Boomerang." In a state of disbelief, I asked to speak to one of the managers about it. Rich Moskowitz, one of the owners of Discovery Discs in Houston Hall, told me that the replacement inserts were put there intentionally. He said people sometimes steal the CD cases, even though there are no discs inside. The purpose, he said, is to "deter those who are theft-oriented." I then asked him why only certain types of music had photocopied inserts. "It is our experience that certain genres get stolen more than others," he replied. "Mostly rap, soul, R & B?" He added: "It may seem discriminatory, but it's the reality of the urban environment." Yes, Mr. Moskowitz, it may seem discriminatory -- because it is. Look at the implication: people who listen to music performed primarily by black people are more likely to steal than those who listen to other types of music. These people are more "theft-oriented." Considering that a large proportion of this audience is black, what does that say? Some may call it business sense. Others will call it racism. Discovery Discs is not alone. Earlier this year, area Foot Locker stores stopped accepting checks from Philadelphia residents. The city sportswear stores wouldn't take checks from anybody -- but worse still, the suburban Foot Locker stores would accept any check except those from Philadelphia residents. The check policy became the subject of many local newspaper stories, columns and editorials. While some called it business sense, others called it racism. But in one reported case, the manager of a Foot Locker accepted the check of a white Philadelphia resident with the words, "We do have a policy that we don't take Philadelphia checks -- but I'll take it from you." The judgment of that customer was not only that the policy was discriminatory, but that the manager took her check because of her skin color. The manager evidently assumed that the policy wasn't created for people like her, and that her check wouldn't bounce. Now picture this: You walk into a record store, and all of the covers which feature people of your race are black-and-white photocopies, while the rest are the full-color originals. No matter how much understanding you possess, you will be angry, and you will wonder why you feel so uneasy about being in the store. You will wonder if the white owner is saying he doesn't trust you as much as his other customers, and that he's got a real good eye on you, because he knows your "type." You will wonder if he's expecting you to steal, and what that expectation would say about his perceptions of your race. You won't shrug your shoulders and say, "Well, that's just the reality of my urban environment." It's not as if Discovery Discs stocks "black" music as a courtesy -- they're making money off of it. In fact, Mr. Moskowitz told me that Public Enemy, whose insert has been replaced with a photocopy, "was one of our biggest sellers last year." So along with the few who stole some of the cases, an awful lot of people paid for the music. Which brings us to the real reason Discovery Discs put out the photocopied inserts: money. They're making one group of customers feel like second-class citizens, and then getting those same customers to happily fork over $13 for music. To them it's a business decision. To me, it's demeaning. Foot Locker, in forbidding Philadelphia residents to pay by check, was also being indirectly discriminatory. The city has a higher percentage of minorities than its suburbs, just as rap music has a higher percentage of minority listeners than other genres. If Foot Locker had a blanket policy of not accepting any checks at any of its stores, that would be a different story. But when a company makes judgments about people based on where they live, what color they are, or what type of music they listen to, then that's flat-out wrong, and people are going to be insulted, and get angry about it. Am I overreacting? Mr. Moskowitz told me that Discovery Discs is not attempting to be racist. And clearly, photocopying the liner notes of compact discs is not equivalent to the actions of the Ku Klux Klan. But it's the subtle things we say about other races -- without noticing we do it -- that instill the most hatred and misunderstanding. Quick show of hands: Of those who shop at Discovery Discs, how many of you actually noticed the photocopied liner notes? Maybe it's because you don't listen to those particular genres, but maybe you didn't pick up on it because it didn't strike you as unusual. Does it seem odd to you that every single Greek house on Locust Walk is comprised mostly of white males? Probably not, but if they were all replaced by predominantly African-American fraternities and sororities, you can be damn sure you'd notice, and you'd most likely be upset. And that is a problem. But not every accusation of racism has to result in something like the Los Angeles riots. Foot Locker responded to the outcries by improving their check policy, and last month began allowing all of their customers to pay by check. Voices of protest are sometimes all that are needed to induce businesses to correct their policies. Meanwhile, here's hoping that this voice will be heard all the way over in the basement of Houston Hall. · At the end of our interview, Mr. Moskowitz asked when he could see this column. "It's a matter of public relations," he said. It sure is a matter of public relations. In fact, I'll send him a photocopy, so he can see it in black-and-white. Dan Smith is a sophomore Mechanical Engineering major from Rochester, New York.