Prejudice?

I have this lesson that ties the classic and enduring language arts standards of mood and tone with popular music. The trick is finding two songs that are "cool" enough, similar in subject yet different in tone, and school appropriate.

In the past (and the present), I've used Sade's "Slave Song" and Public Enemy's "Prophets of Rage". This go around I also noticed that Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" would work in this group, as well. I also found Macy Gray's "Do Something" and Jurassic 5's "Contribution" as a suitable pair.

Notice anything about these artists?

Yup, all black. (Can't say African-American, 'cause Sade was born in Africa to an African father and British mother and was raised in England.) And while I do listen to some hip-hop, it is far from the entirety of my catalogue. I listen to lots of whitegirl music, especially after five years in P-town.

Maybe it's my East Coast/Drrty South roots that make these particular songs the ones I am familiar enough with to easily teach. Maybe it's just that these artists choose school-appropriate subjects. Is it the minority "phenomenon" -- that as a member of a minority, they feel more responsibility to the community to produce "meaningful" work? Is it that the whitepeeps focus on vacuous topics like "love"?

Discuss.