Black History Month tends to elicit a wide range of emotions in the United States - one look at Twitter's trending tags will show you that many people still don't understand why we have a month dedicated to Black History. "What about WHITE history month?" they ask. Well, what about it? The simple fact is, 11 months out of the year is our white history month. History classes from kindergarten through university focus on white history - North American and European history, to be exact. Many of us never learn about any African history at all (except the colonized areas, of course), even though the continent of Africa grossly dwarfs North America and Europe. I'm sure some of us remember a few notable characters in Black History: Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King, Jr. - but compare that against the army of white folks in history, and the representation is nowhere near equal. Some ignorant people will try to argue that its because Black people simply didn't have as much to contribute to society, but anyone who has ever been part of a marginalized group knows how untrue that is. As a part of a marginalized group, you just don't get the same opportunities to succeed.
Even in 2014, 45 years after the civil rights movement, orchestras are still overwhelmingly white. When you consider that inner-city schools rarely have music programs, the absence of black talent in classical music isn't surprising. When you also consider the lingering racism in many opera houses, it isn't a shock that most of the top-billing singers are white. Can you remember the last time you saw a black conductor? In my entire musical career, singing and working with a wide variety of ensembles, I cannot recall a single black conductor. In a quick Google search on "Black conductor," the first result is an article about the gifted conductor, Kwamè Ryan - from 10 YEARS ago. The most relevant search result is from a decade ago, and it quotes him as saying that he doesn't have hope for the future, because the seeds of interest aren't being planted in the minds of black kids; those same kids are the ones going to schools that don't have music programs. Even when high-risk schools do have music teachers, many times those teachers have never studied music and get shuffled around from school to school. Though studies have shown time after time that music education and performing in ensembles increases SAT scores, eligibility for higher education via grades and scholarships, and decreases student crime, somehow music is always first on the chopping block in these poor districts that are barely surviving with charter schools cannibalizing their students for the for-profit companies that run them.
It is arguable that the genres in which Black people have more avenues to success are the popular ones: jazz, pop, and rap. Even as such, white artists continue to appropriate Black culture and happily accept the accolades that show just how "progressive" they are, even as they recite hollow speeches that completely ignore the culture they are stealing from. It didn't start with Elvis, but he serves as a good example - emulating Black culture earned him fame and fortune, because he was a "safe" white man. Audiences have always loved the beats and groove of Black music, but many couldn't look past their ingrained racism and listen to Black artists.
Many people will say their dislike of rap music stems from the misogyny and descriptions of crime in the lyrics, but don't realize that rap in its original form was about fighting the system that oppressed them. It wasn't until record labels wanted to draw in white audiences that artists started releasing albums full of the stereotypes of abusers and drug dealers that so many white people have been raised to believe are the absolute truth. Many of these same people who dislike Black artists for their misogyny are quick to praise Eminem, whose lyrics I find far more offensive than most Black rappers'. Then we of course have Macklemore, who tweeted a picture of his text to Kendrick Lamar, saying that he didn't deserve the Grammy he'd been given, probably in some attempt to appear progressive and gracious. Macklemore is a poseur of the utmost degree - raking in cash from the oppressed groups while retaining his shining straight white male privilege.
Miley Cyrus is another example of appropriation, with her twerking fiasco at the 2013 MTV VMAs. I don't really care what she was wearing, it was the deliberate sexualization and de-personification of her Black back-up dancers that left a sour taste in my mouth. What made that sour taste turn to bile was when multiple news sources alleged that Cyrus had invented twerking, when it has been a staple of Black artists since before she was born. She repeatedly makes statements about how she isn't racist - but having racist attitudes is more than burning crosses and white hoods.
That is the real crux of the problem, isn't it? We aren't taught in schools that 76% of scholarship recipients are white. We aren't taught about lynching. We aren't taught about African culture and history. Not about Black inventors and scientists, and not about Black musicians either. We learn about Mozart and Beethoven, but the portraits and photographs of Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington are absent from many textbooks. We don't learn that racism is so much more than outright violence and segregated bathrooms. Its ingrained stereotypes, passed down from parents, teachers, and media. Racism keeps Black kids out of music programs and Black adults out of orchestras and opera halls. Racism is when white musicians get Grammys for appropriating Black culture, and no Black people are even nominated.
In order for things to improve, those of us with white privilege need to step up, own our privilege, and use it to continue dismantling the idioms in society that prevent Black people from succeeding in music. This isn't about feeling guilty or shaming white people for being white. This isn't about "reverse racism," which by the way isn't even a real thing, and it certainly isn't about your feelings. Its about recognizing a glaring schism in the opportunities that are afforded, and correcting that imbalance. Its about realizing that racism still exists, its still a problem, and it is absolutely still affecting us today, in 2014.
Don't you think its time we took a stand? Don't you think we should still be fighting for equality?
I do.
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