“I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent”: Mixed-Race Doo-Wop,Gang Culture,and the War against Rock ’n’ Roll,1954-1957

Abstract

Despite its massive mid-century popularity, doo-wop music has received little scholarly attention and has instead been studied by amateur collectors. If doo-wop is rock ’n’ roll’s forgotten genre, no groups have been more neglected than mixed-race ensembles. By examining either Black or white groups, fans and scholars have embraced racial binarism, minimizing the importance of Latinx vocalists. Mixed-race acts championed cross-cultural interaction even as critics accused them of promoting miscegenation and delinquency. Fifties New York quintets like the Juveniles and the Teenagers represented the best that rock ’n’ roll had to offer. They grew out of urban gang culture even as they served as an alternative to this violence. By harmonizing with diverse groups, singers differentiated themselves from gang members. They offered an urban vision premised not on racialized struggle but on integrated collaboration. They served as cultural mediators who challenged racist assumptions that tied delinquency to nonwhite inner-city youths.