After learning about blackface minstrelsy and the evolution of jazz, it got me thinking that blacks were treated extremely poorly in many ways. It wasn't just slavery and the times of segregation, in the entertainment business blacks were also not treated fairly. The blackface minstrel music was a little disturbing. In Ms. Azeb's presentation, I remember we were watching something by Al Jolson and Ms. Azeb said "This guy's a dick" and turned it off. He was imitating a black person and exaggerating everything.
Even passed blackface when we learned about jazz and ASCAP, there were things to protect artists, but blacks were excluded. Their stuff was stolen by whites and then no credit was given. It seems as though whites really had no influence in the early music business. They imitated black playing styles, dancing, and stole their music. I began to think about this and I also try to imitate black performers in my music too. Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Robert Randolph, Buddy Guy, just to name a few. Blacks seem to be the creaters and pioneers of music in the United States. I wonder what the music had been like if whites had noone else to look at. Would we have the poppy beats or jazzed up tunes? Would everything remain traditional?
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