Cool and The Establishment

It seems that there are several inherent problems with Governor Granholm's "Cool Cities" campaign. The first dilemma is a misunderstanding of the definition of "cool." Cool is indicative to a culture which challenges social norms, mainstream thinking, or the establishment. When "the Man" picks up this culture for use as a means of attaining a goal of the establishment, the culture ceases to be cool. There is an inherent duality in the definition of cool. When it loses its controversial aspects and ceases to be a means of challenging the mainstream, it loses its essence. By being assimilated into the mainstream, it loses the aspects that make it cool. A second problem with the campaign is the demographic it appeals to. It is presented mainly on the digital platform of the Internet and intended to attract successful, white suburbanites. The culture which it uses to attract this group is drawn from African American music. Yet the campaign largely ignores making any attempt to appeal to African Americans. The medium which it uses for promotion is not readily available to many members of the inner-city African American groups. It appears that their culture is being exploited to appeal to and appease socially and economically prosperous white groups. The true meaning of this "cool culture" is being reduced to a promotional image. It seems that the efforts of the Cool Cities campaign would be better spent in an attempt to improve inner city life for those who already inhabit the streets of urban Detroit. Why exploit a culture in an attempt to appeal to mainstream-white ideals while failing to recognize, support, or give benefit to the source of said culture beyond trivializing and stereotyping its heritage? It may not be intentional, but the campaign is explicitly racist. What conclusion should urban African Americans draw from this campaign beyond, "White suburbanites are more socially valuable than you?" The campaign is ridiculous. It is unlikely that many will be convinced by an institutionalized notion of "coolness." Furthermore, for an establishment to rape a culture, of which it is not a part, for commercial use and to give no direct benefit to the group that is the origin of that culture is unavoidably racist.