In Response to An Article by Corey Harris

This argument is fascinating. It is humorous to see "blues aficionados" shift uneasily in their seats at the mere mention of "race" being introduced into the musical equation because Mr. Harris could have been talking about Hip-Hop (Eminem & Iggy Azalea), or R&B (Elvis, Timberlake, Thicke & Beiber), or funk (Mark Ronson & Wild Cherry) or rock & roll (Beatles & Rolling Stones). When I met Buddy Guy at his recording session in NYC, I was a blues guitarist without having studied ANY blues guitarist who have come before me. I was born "bluesed." Slave songs, gospel, blues, jazz, rock and roll, soul, rhythm & blues and hip-hop, were factually created OUT OF the living/emotional conditions of the originators, but because many of you who are bothered by Mr. Harris' comments, choose to put aside the emotional attachment and marginalize the connection of the music's "reason for creation" versus the music's wide acceptance and popularity. You become a music critic/aficionado who is trying to protect your self-given right to criticize the validity of this man's personal opinion. His opinion is not divisive, and only adds an oft overlooked vantage point in the conversation of music and race. A vantage point that is impossible for some of you to share and therefor, VERY different from your own. I have personally experienced the introduction of race into the "musical equation" in Gainesville, Florida as easily as it is introduced into the "police/public interaction equation" or the "real estate equation" or the "financial lending equation" in Gainesville, Florida and have experienced enough in this town to play the blues on a regular basis, HOWEVER, what people wish to value me for is their label of me as a "funk guitarist." I talk about funk because I cannot feed my family with my love of country, classical, heavy metal, old pop OR BLUES. I am forced to play funk because that is the only music that is not covered in this town. The important thing to most people in the audience is; am I going to kick my leg up in the air and play behind my head. When they see that I am a happy black man, playing what I want to play in these here United States of America, it is time to have a beer and salute. I realize some might say it was his opinion but Bo Diddley taught me funk is the essence of every music and it is NOT black and white....UNTIL the white funk musician gets the RESPECT, the GIG and the MONEY while the black funk musician has to steal bread to feed his family and worry about being killed by the police. My experience thus far: Bo Diddley's family is not taken advantage of because of Bo's poor business acumen, they are being taken advantage of because Bo was black and had no way in hell or heaven to get the education he would need for his family to come out with a better outcome. Most of the people who profess to LOVE the blues AND rock & roll and the people who created it, stop that adulation the second the artist dies and transfer that love to their sacred album collection without mention of the children left behind who need to eat and have the ability to attend a good college. Which blues lover in this forum has anything of substance to say about the plight of B.B. King's family at the hands of "the Legal System"? Nothing, when the talk about B.B. centers around his stardom and guitar tone and "Lucille." The Joe Bonamassas, and Kenny Wayne Shepards out there are getting hired at big ticket prices because white folks are able to AND going to pay to see someone they can easily relate to. It is widely known and accepted that; with education, white people can do whatever they want, whenever they want. What has prevented black people from enjoying classical music on a broader scope is; blacks had purposely not been exposed to classical music. It was said that the music was too complex for blacks to appreciate. The people who attend and promote functions where classical music was/is performed, are PURPOSELY, CULTURALLY SEPARATED from blacks and did not have a need for black people in their personal lives except those who performed as servants. How many had black doctors and black professors versus black butlers and black mammies? The people who attend and promote functions where country music was/is performed, are PURPOSELY, CULTURALLY SEPARATED from blacks and did not have any black people in their personal lives except those who performed as slaves, servants or share-croppers. The people who attend and promote local functions in North-central Florida where music is performed, are naturally, CULTURALLY SEPARATED from blacks and do not have a need for black people in their personal lives except those who are co-workers and classmates. Corey's statement does not say white people cannot, should not nor cannot play the blues, he is merely saying, white people are going to play the blues because there is nothing to stop them from enjoying it OR playing it....BUT NEVER forget where it came from. Jewish people do not want us to forget the Holocaust. Americans do not want us to forget 9/11. Natives do not want us to forget the "Trail of Tears" and white people out of touch with reality and "racial politics" don't want us to forget: America elected a black president, so the "march" toward racial equality must be over. Thank you for the refresher Mr. Harris.