Dick Clark’s Diversity Consciousness

Dick Clark will be remembered for many things –American Bandstand, his business acumen, host of game shows, his broadcasts on New Year’s Eve, and the like.  However, it is worth noting that his diversity consciousness helped make all of these ventures successful.

His communication skills, and specifically his ability to connect with a variety of audiences, were noteworthy to say the least.  He established a rapport with teens and adults alike.   And he found that by wearing a suit,  tweaking his pitch, and presenting a non-threatening image, adults were a bit more tolerant of this new fangled music called rock and roll.

He broke racial ground. Even though there were concerns about racial mixing at that time, blacks and whites shared his dance floor and entertainers of all races  shared the same stage.  Moreover, live audience seating  in the studio was desegregated.  Clark introduced a number of black artists on American Bandstand, such as Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker.

When he had a stroke in December, 2004, he had to miss his annual New Year’s Eve show the next month.   Stroke victims wanted him to continue the following year, even though his speech ability was affected.   But some in the press disagreed, saying he wasn’t up to it.  Clark said, “I had to teach myself how to talk and walk again.”  For Clark, it was a long, hard fight as he put it, but he continued with his New Year’s Eve broadcasts and by doing so, served as a role-model for many people with and without disabilities.

Clark’s diversity consciousness needed work at times.  There were times when he said things he shouldn’t have said, and took the easy path rather than the tolerant path.  But that is not unlike each of us.  Our growth in this area is not linear; rather, there is growth, stagnation, and regression at times.  Clark’s diversity consciousness, and his ability to understand the connection between diversity, music, and entertainment, is worth remembering.