Thoughts on #BlackLivesMatter, White Privilege and Music

I was raised by a very liberal single mother in the '60s, and I make my living playing music that is rooted in the black community. I used to think I was 'color-blind' as if that was something to be proud of - that I didn't make a distinction between black and white, that I only judged people on the content of their character, etc. It took a lot of reflection, learning and listening to what black people were saying about their experience for me to realize that that was an attitude of racism and white privilege - that I had the luxury of not noticing color. Black folk never have that luxury.

I sing and play soul music, jazz, R&B and blues, and I have a deep respect, inspiration and love for where it came from. I do not imagine that I 'sound black', nor would I ever try to. Even I find it extremely offensive when a white singer brags about 'sounding black' (although most of them definitely don't even though they think they do.) I can only imagine how a black person must feel when they hear that. But the cold reality is that I am allowed to go into that world - welcomed with open arms, in fact - do the best I can in it and succeed or fail on my own merit, but the same is not true for black folk in many primarily-white genres, such as country music. A Charley Pride or a Ray Charles several generations ago only illustrates the absolute rejection of black singers by Nashville - black artists, that is; backup singing or playing for a white artist is all good as long as you're '20 feet from stardom'.

I realize that as a white person who performs in a predominantly black genre of music, 'cultural appropriation' is another aspect of white privilege that I have to examine. There is a long history of white artists performing music first created by black artists, and making more money from it than the original artist, such as Elvis, Pat Boone, etc. It is a very sensitive subject and still takes a lot of unpacking and questioning - especially for someone like me. Again, I am grateful to have been welcomed by my black musician friends, but that does not give me license to assume that I'm part of that experience as a black musician and what their obstacles are in this business.