I was thinking earlier about why so few black people listen
to classical music. This has intrigued me for a long time, but I’m sure the answer
is simple enough. Classical music, whatever its qualities, is inextricably
linked with the dominance of white culture – and especially white high culture – going back to the ancient
Greeks. And this is what troubles me.
Educationalists, politicians and other Establishment figures
never stop telling black people that if they want to rise from the gutter and
get out of the ghetto (and my choice of phrases is consciously intended to
reflect Establishment attitudes,) they must study hard and gain the
qualifications that mainstream education offers. Only by those means will they
come to belong and, in the process, defeat racism.
This strikes me as awfully wrong because it pre-supposes
that white culture is superior and black people must accept being marginalised
until they embrace the fact. Isn’t it about time we moved beyond that position?
This principle was put to me some years ago when I worked
for an inner city charity, and I didn’t fully get it then. I do now because it
reminds me of why I’m marginalised. Telling black people that they must embrace
white culture is like telling me that I must watch TV soaps and game shows if I
want to belong. It’s partly why I don’t want to belong.
7 comments:
There are many musicians of color in the classical music world.
I think it's very difficult for us to say we know what it feels like to be marginalized in the same way the so-called minorities are.
I too shun most of what popular culture imposes in order to "belong." But, that is very different than being abused, marginalized and having your basic civil rights violated.
Music is a force of uniting, not dividing people. I believe all people of good will know that.
Well, Bree, let's take this on experience:
1) I've watched countless classical concerts down the years and I don't ever recall seeing a black face among the ranks of the orchestra. Black people generally associate thesmselves with other forms like jazz, blues, reggae and rap.
2) When I worked for Sam's charity for three years, I encountered a deep hatred of classical music because of its association with priviliged white culture. To them, it seemed that classical music was only reinforcing the message: "If you don't want to be marginalised, abused and have your civil rights violated, you must accept that white culture is superior and appreciate what we appreciate.' And what doesn't help is the convention of dressing classical
musicians in the uniform of not only white, but class, superiority.
3) My reference to being expected to watch trash TV in order to belong was only added by way of explaining that I now have some inkling of what they were taliking about, not that I know what it's like to be racially abused.
PS
You might be interested to know that black people in Britain object pretty strongly to the term 'of colour.' They see it as condescending and typical of white supremacist attitudes. They like to be called 'black.' Maybe it's different in America.
Another thing they objected to was a proposal to start following the American model and referring to them as 'African Britons.' They asked why they should be institutionally segregated that way. Why can't they just be Britons, whatever their ethnicity?
JJ
"People of color" refers to more than African-Americans. That's why I wrote it. I was referring to other non-white ethnic folks as well.
Like, can you ever just respond to a comment with, "interesting perspective?!" That's all I'm doing is looking at it in another light. I love to read your perspective on issues, but sometimes it kinda sounds like you want to be 'right' all the time.
These are weighty issues to be sure.
Bree
This is a blog, not a PhD thesis. I’ve been through all the perspectives – interesting and not so interesting, enlightened and bigoted, liberal and conservative. I spent three years listening to the concerns of non-white people caught up in what is still a white supremacist culture. I merely put one angle on the overall view, knowing full well how complex it is and what the other angles are. I don’t even know that I’m right; I rarely do.
I can say this, though. The word ‘coloured’ was used officially by the white supremacist administration in South Africa during apartheid, and it was used in Britain by like-minded people when immigration was becoming an issue between the 1950s and the 1970s. It still carries the connotation, and many non-white people, at least over here, still regard it as not far removed from the ‘n’ word. It tends to be used these days by people who regard themselves as liberal, but don’t have the personal experience to know how much it rankles with those to whom it is applied.
I'm only going to say this:
All black people that i personally know want to be called black. I don't know many people who are hispanic but the few i know refer to themselves as brown, hispanic, or even Native American.
I also think 'of color' is generally thought to be offensive.
There was an old black person's joke in Britain:
'You have white skin, yellow hair, blue eyes, and you call us coloured!'
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