Issues concerning race and the history of the blues is one of my favorite topics, personally and professionally. Thanks for the writing prompt Nabbie. Nabbie's use of the them "wannabe Negro" joins a long dark history of racist terms disparages not only black people, but the whole human endeavor of the arts. If we identify any form of art by the race of the person who invented it, we are denying their brilliant artistic ability to express feelings common to all races.
If we ridicule a person who performs a style of music as being a "wannabe" of the race who invented the style, we are saying two things. That only the people of the race who invented it can legitimately express themselves in that art form, and that races are simultaneously shut out of certain art forms because of their race. Which is not too cool if you are a black kid who loves classical music, but hears from racists around him, that he is being an Uncle Tom for playing white music. (Yeah, racism is an equal opportunity destroyer of artistic freedom). Why don't we apply this race standard to any other area of human knowledge or artistic expression? Are there black painting styles? Let's break down just a few of the musical arts by race, shall we? Blues, jazz, ragtime, rhythmic gospel, rock N' roll, soul, funk, Motown, hip hop, rap, reggae, afro-pop, Cuban music, Brazilian Samba, and all pop and country music that uses a syncopated 2/4 rhythm beat behind it are, according to racist logic, music forms that only black artists should play. When Elvis first came out, his music was derided by DJs as "N" music and they wouldn't play him on the radio because they felt it would lead to a mixing of the races on the dance floor. (Spoiler alert, it did.) So according to racist logic, black people should be the only people performing these music forms because it was Africans or African Americans who invented them. For many decades prior to around 1875 this was mostly true, both in the US and Europe, where there were minstrel shows with people in blackface mocking "Negro" music forms. To perform "black" music was equivalent to deriding it and the "primitiveness" of the race that produced it. Then came the "race records" in the early 1900's which limited the marketing of blues outside the black community. As a "race" artist you were stuck with the crappiest of music contracts within an era of generally crappy music contracts. Jazz band who were largely black artists were limited where they could play unless they had white band leaders who could get them into better paying white venues. These establishments would not serve them because of their race, but would let them serve white people in an entertainment capacity. Then came an era of exploiting black artist playing Rock'N Roll, limited airplay for black artists on the radio, segmented form of artistic prejudice limiting creativity of musicians who loved the other race's music because it was a human form of music and not dependent on the melanin in skin. Black artists were kept on the Chittlin circuit playing at lower paying gigs. (BB King spent most of his career under this restriction. He cried the first time he played for a white audience and got a standing ovation.) Switching positions on this long history of racism in the arts,let's take a look at what kind of music we should tell black kids they should not play because white people invented it, so therefor it is white music: All classical music, religious hymns, opera, country music with a 2/2 or 4/4 beat, skiffle, Irish music, all the forms of folk music created by white people including Gyspy, Eastern European, Russian, etc. By saying that a white person is trying to be a black person if they perform an art form created by black people, we are telling black kids not to aspire to join the symphony. That is white art and they are excluded because of the color of their skin. When we define arts in terms of race, we perpetuate a long tradition of limiting artistic and human freedom through racially defined boundaries born of the worst form of human ignorance and tribal cruelty. It continues to limit economic opportunity and political power of certain groups. You see, I AM white, and grew up really privileged with all the cultural, social, educational, and economic capital that comes with my race. So I have the luxury to pick my battles and fight against racial stereotypes from a position of relative safety. I blend in with the power structure so such idiotic words don't affect my livelihood. But I have a front row seat right now on the most disadvantaged kids who are absorbing all the cultural messages about their place in the world, according to their race contained in harmful phrases like this. In the era that blues was invented, white musicians played blues too, and black artists took elements from white artists like yodeling and incorporated these techniques into their blues. (Tommy Johnson 1929 recordings) Artists have through history ignored racial differences, in their desire to be as creative as possible using contributions from all other humans. And that interaction has created the amazingly rich forms of music today. "Till the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes, its a war." Bob Marley putting a speech by Haile Selassie to music
