Am I Racist?

[Bocefish]

The reason I bring this up is because I was surprised to notice the color of the skin of the 8th Grader's Heavy Metal Band that just signed a $1.7 million dollar record Deal with Sony.

http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just- ... ork-for-it

It was surprising to me, but I also thought it was pretty cool at the same time. It was same way I thought it was cool there was black hockey player who major NHL teams were trying to recruit.

On the other hand, I thought it was weird that people made a big deal of Tony Dungy being the first black Superbowl coach in history. I never thought of him as black, just a great coach and all around good dude. I never thought of Mike Singletary as black either, loved watching him play for Da Bears.

Maybe to a certain extent I may be, what say you?

 

[JickyJuly]

Just noticing race at all is racist. So... everybody is? I love when people are moving against the usual grain too. For instance, I get excited when there's a girl in a band and she isn't just standing there playing the bass so that there's tits on the stage. Is that bad too?

 

[THE MOLLIE MARIE]

Assuming that only people of a certain race will participate in a given activity is racism, yes.

 

[Shaun__]

I was way more shocked to learn to get royalties on their hard work they basically have to become the most popular metal band in the world according to the article. The entertainment business seems to be full of so many crooks, taking advantage of the talented people who make their money.

 

[BarbieLuv]

It's worth noting that the article itself has some subtle racism in it, like this little tidbit: "Three young black kids from the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, an area that predominantly listens to hip-hop, go against the norm and start listening to and jamming heavy metal makes a great story."

It's not racist to point out that someone of a different skin color is performing a genre of music generally dominated by people of a different race. It's done all the time in popular media and conversed about in most social circles (Iggy Azalea and Darius Rucker come to mind as examples of 'breaking into' genres where their race isn't well-represented).

:twocents-02cents:

 

[dilligaf0]

I think about "Cult of Personality" by Living Color.
Music genre's are not divided by race.
Edwin Starr,as well as many others were in rock music in the 60's & 70's.
It only comes up now because we're so self-conscious about it.
I look at things as "these are people, let them pursue their dreams". :twocents-02cents:

 

[Bocefish]

Would I be way more racist if I said...

“The one thing we are going to do during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women’s lives are not determined by the virtues of five white men.”

Or more sexist if I said...

We should be afraid of this court. That five guys should start determining what contraceptions are legal or not... That court decision was a frightening one that five men should get down to the specifics of whether a woman should use a diaphragm or whether she should pay for it herself or her boss. It’s not her boss's business.

 

[Red7227]

I think about "Cult of Personality" by Living Color.
Music genre's are not divided by race.
Edwin Starr,as well as many others were in rock music in the 60's & 70's.
It only comes up now because we're so self-conscious about it.
I look at things as "these are people, let them pursue their dreams". :twocents-02cents:

I'm not sure if its common elsewhere, but a friend auditioning for the Melbourne philaharmonic played behind a screen. The assessors knew nothing about the person, be it sex, looks or qualifications, all they had to go on what how the person played.

 

[Ambers Troll]

The reason I bring this up is because I was surprised to notice the color of the skin of the 8th Grader's Heavy Metal Band that just signed a $1.7 million dollar record Deal with Sony.

http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just- ... ork-for-it

It was surprising to me, but I also thought it was pretty cool at the same time. It was same way I thought it was cool there was black hockey player who major NHL teams were trying to recruit.

On the other hand, I thought it was weird that people made a big deal of Tony Dungy being the first black Superbowl coach in history. I never thought of him as black, just a great coach and all around good dude. I never thought of Mike Singletary as black either, loved watching him play for Da Bears.

Maybe to a certain extent I may be, what say you?

Noticing race is ok, can be racist to ignore it. I don't get the impression you feel superior in any way, you are not overtly racist, those of us born to the main culture will always struggle to understand how challenging it can be to be outside of it.
To ignore the cultural setting that enables inequity and what it takes to do well is the main mistake those who know the main culture well always make in other races. It is the same kind of stuggle you will see in someone poor, compared to the middle classes, even if they were given money, they don't understand the culture well enough to do well as easily, you need that middle class background.
Those pushing into careers where a cultural barrier usually prevents access, are amazing people, usually extremely clear on who they are, and what they want...they are formidable, and what they did to get there is usually very hard. This applies to more than just race, or one race, it is important to credit them this extra effort to succeed.

 

[Bocefish]

I'm not sure if its common elsewhere, but a friend auditioning for the Melbourne philaharmonic played behind a screen. The assessors knew nothing about the person, be it sex, looks or qualifications, all they had to go on what how the person played.

Imagine that!

Not sure if it's common?

I'd be willing to bet the NY & Chicago philaharmonic orchestras devoted solely to the music kinda put more of an emphasis on musical talent regardless of skin tone as well.

Go figure

 

[southsamurai]

I dont think noticing or being surprised to see black kids doing metal ( and quite well for their age). Thats just paying atention to the way things usually are. Now if u said rhere was no way black kids could play good metal, thatnwould be racist.

Racism isnt about noticing race in passing. Thats human nature to throw labela onto any given experience based on past experience. Its about whatnu think say and do after noticing.

Then again im a silly southern crackee so what do i know lol

 

[Bocefish]

I'm not sure if its common elsewhere, but a friend auditioning for the Melbourne philaharmonic played behind a screen. The assessors knew nothing about the person, be it sex, looks or qualifications, all they had to go on what how the person played.

Imagine that!

Not sure if it's common?

I'd be willing to bet the NY & Chicago philaharmonic orchestras devoted solely to the music kinda put more of an emphasis on musical talent regardless of skin tone as well.

Go figure

Upon further reflection, I sort of get your point and kind of apologize for my ignorant brutal reply.

 

[THE MOLLIE MARIE]

I'm not sure if its common elsewhere, but a friend auditioning for the Melbourne philaharmonic played behind a screen. The assessors knew nothing about the person, be it sex, looks or qualifications, all they had to go on what how the person played.

Imagine that!

Not sure if it's common?

I'd be willing to bet the NY & Chicago philaharmonic orchestras devoted solely to the music kinda put more of an emphasis on musical talent regardless of skin tone as well.

Go figure

Upon further reflection, I sort of get your point and kind of apologize for my ignorant brutal reply.

The brutality of this place! Don't go scaring people off, now!

 

[wutmeight]

racism is defined by believing that one race is superior to another. By reading your comment, that isn't the impression I'm getting

 

[JordanBlack]

I just find a bit silly to associate a certain genre of music with someone's skin color or to where they were brought up. By that logic there shouldn't be any metal bands in Cuba, China, Iran, Botswana because they are not Caucasians?!

I seriously don't see why this much hype about this three kids. Hello? Jimi Hendrix, Sepultura, RATM etc

Just leaving these two links here: Cuban metal and Chinese industrial metal.