This post deals with a music publisher, GIA. That puts it a little beyond my blog’s usual scope, but it’s still publishing, and I write lots of songs (though only one has ever made me money) and have edited convention songbooks. The story is hard to believe, but the reports I’ve seen support it. My primary source is a Reason article by Robby Soave. I’ll grant that since I tend to agree with Reason‘s positions, I have to watch out for bias, but in my experience the site’s fact-checking is good, and they don’t often publish wild fictions.
On the other hand, if the report is accurate, the company it calls “the major publisher of religious content” (in choral music) is run by fanatics who don’t just support arson but think there’s “no justification” for opposing it. Or perhaps GIA is run by miserable cowards who will do anything that they think will help their revenues, no matter how unjust. Both possibilities are disturbing.
According to the Reason article, Elder was distressed with what he saw as uncritical support for violent and destructive acts that accompanied anti-police protests. He posted to Instagram: “Enjoy burning it all down, you well-intentioned, blind people. I’m done.” Then he deleted his Instagram account.
That’s a distressing response, but calling arsonists “well-intentioned” and “blind” is mild. There’s nothing racist about the statement. Elder was apparently responding to the vandalism and arson that marred the Nashville protest in May 2020 following George Floyd’s murder.
GIA composed a Soviet-style statement of self-criticism for Elder to sign. It said in part, “There is no justification that I can offer for my post. So, rather than try to offer an excuse for what was done, I offer a promise for what I will do going forward.” When he refused to denounce himself, GIA purged him from its list of publishable composers.
Unless Elder is making stuff up, GIA’s position is that opposition to destructive actions at protests is not merely wrong but inexcusable. If he is making it up, GIA would have a pretty good libel case.
A Facebook post from GIA says:
The views expressed in composer Daniel Elder’s incendiary social media post on Sunday evening do not reflect the values of GIA or our employees. GIA opposes racism in all its forms and is committed to do what Michelle Obama called “the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out.”
Therefore, we will suspend future publishing with Daniel until he takes steps to publicly and appropriately address this situation. We are grateful to those who brought this to our attention and to all who continue to hold individuals and organizations to account.
Could there be some other post by Elder that GIA reacted to? It’s possible, but I’ve found nothing pointing to it. The “I’m done” post was literally anti-incendiary. I’ve looked through his blog to learn something about how he thinks. It’s full of gloom and bitterness, but there’s no hint of racism. He writes that “Man is inherently evil.” A poem in the blog uses “the black” to mean metaphorical darkness; he calls attention to it in the prose introduction, saying it’s a “particularly risky word.” In the academic world, using that world may be unambiguous evidence of racism, but thinking people are hardly going to damn him on that basis.
What does the writer or composer do in such a situation? An interview with Elder on Quillette explores the question. The interviewer asks:
When this sort of controversy erupts, bystanders like me tend to take the view you endorse: We say, “Don’t apologize. It only makes things worse.” But people inside the subculture will respond, in effect, “The victim has no choice. He has no choice but to beg for forgiveness, or his career prospects will be finished.” Was that the case here? Have you killed your career in this field for the sake of principle?
That’s the tough question. I’ve seen what cancel mobs do to people who apologize for things they shouldn’t apologize for. It encourages them to fiercer attacks, if anything, and I’ve often said so. Elder said,
The apology draft was not offered as a way out. … There was no “unless” included. Because of mob pressure, they were going to publish the statement whether or not I apologized.
However, GIA didn’t back off in the face of Elder’s defiance. Sometimes cancel culture destroys careers and there’s no escaping it. As he said in the interview, “Someone that arouses the attention of the online mob rarely escapes punishment by prostrating. Stand and face your executioner.”
It’s bleak advice, especially for people who depend on writing income to pay the bills. The best advice may be not to get too dependent on any one client. Shostakovich had to repeatedly appease the Soviet government to keep his works from being banned. In the United States we can sell to someone else.
In working on this article, I found Elder’s YouTube channel. I listened to some of the music and subscribed. You might like it too.