General Music Chat

My biggest racial problem had to do with college. I entered college at the end of the Civil Rights movement. This was when the issue was to get blacks and women in jobs that were mostly available to white men. Equal opportunity sounds like a good idea but only if the individual gets to choose their field of interest. My field of interest was to major in music, of curse, as a flute major. I wanted to concentrate on performance and composition. I was advised to major on the oboe with concentration on education. I , being a kid, followed that advised and did horribly in music. I was not interested in studying or practicing and eventually I dropped out. I went back to school when I moved to California and my concentration was automatically put in the area of performance and composition. as a flute major. I got straight "A's"

Shred, I'll have some music up soon. I'm in the studio right now. ;o)

I think you make very good points also. For instance, I do live in the OC, so most of my friends are either white, hispanic or asian, along with black. We all have the same problems. We're just paying bills or attempting to pay them. People are out of work, people have emergencies happen which take all their savings, it is no longer a color thing. In the 80s, there was a lot of racism and sexism in the workplace, but because of laws in place, it's more underground and now it's about your education.

As far as Chris Rock goes, I think yes it's a little outdated but then no, he isn't completely wrong either. However, most of my family went to college and they all work. I don't a large number of family members on welfare or who live in the ghetto. They mostly live in middle class neighborhoods and are the homeowners now, have savings, 401Ks and so on. And like Black57, my friends were like that. I know a friend who's black who right out of law school went to study in Japan, learned Japanese, came back to America and started his own practice working with who? Mostly Japanese people. I have a friend, a black man, who lives in Switzerland who is a computer tech and teacher. I had a black guy argue with me about my light skin stating that I had what I had because I was light. Well both of these gentlemen are very dark skinned black men, so I get tired of getting into arguments about my light skin, especially in a place where many whites have thought I was Hispanic, which really isn't any better than saying I'm black. So I'm not nor ever have gotten a free ride over here.

Life IS about choices and the only hard part about being black is when kids make fun of you for making all A's, but then kids don't think about being 30 years old and trying to make a living, a time when those straight As could come in handy and they're going "Welcome to WalMart." I knew a kid who played tennis growing up, and I knew a number of blacks who did, but then I grew up in a middle class black neighborhood, people the media forgets about because most black movies are still marketed to black people who live in the ghetto. Sad but true.

I don't have any black friends at the present, but that's not so unusual, seeing as I live in a state that's 97% white...(I didn't know that when I moved here)

I worked in a factory, when I 1st moved here. I used to bring a Jamaican friend home from dinner sometimes. A friend of mine had a Jamaican wife who was a little on the wild side...she once gave my wife a lap dance in a very public setting. I loved it!

All of that aside, I am in no way able to assess or understand the black experience, recently, & I have had few lifelong friends of any color to get info from...& I often find myself railing at ppl on TV when they try to describe it...but only because they talk about white folk behaving in ways that I would never behave.

I'm no fan of Chris Rock or Martin Lawrence or any of the black comedians who seem to expand upon their bad experiences with whitey...that just seems to be counterproductive to me, when it comes to race relations. I'm sick of counterproductivity, myself...

I hear you and from that aspect, it does get a bit old because that's where I believe it's very outdated. For instance, the jokes that I find Chris Rock the most funny is when he talks about women, being married and politics. I've never been a Martin Lawrence fan. I've loved Dave Chappelle when he made fun of Prince and Rick James.

Here's one my husband and I joke about all the time - Chris Rock on women: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnU7g4m0 ... re=related

Chaeya

I hear you and from that aspect, it does get a bit old because that's where I believe it's very outdated. For instance, the jokes that I find Chris Rock the most funny is when he talks about women, being married and politics. I've never been a Martin Lawrence fan. I've loved Dave Chappelle when he made fun of Prince and Rick James.

Here's one my husband and I joke about all the time - Chris Rock on women: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnU7g4m0 ... re=related

Chaeya

Chaeya, that was soo effin' funny Hey, we are neighbors, I see.

Oh wow, I just noticed that. You're in Orange. Our studio is in Orange. We'll have to hook up. I'll have to take you to see the Pirate Charles band. They have flute too!

Chaeya

The one thing that I can truly appreciate about Chris Rock, that I have trouble with with so many other black entertainers, is that I can understand him. He has great elocution. He doesn't add "izzle" or "iznit" to everyday words. He uses regular language, readily understood by most of America, rather than only the inner city 'gangsta' youths.

I was hanging with a black band for awhile, back in the early 70's, & the slang they used always went right by me. I'd say something stupid back, when I didn't get it, & they'd act all impressed that I was so 'hip.'

I had no idea what I'd said, truth be told, but we got along very well...even though we all looked at each other with that 'wtf' face, so very often.

Oh wow, I just noticed that. You're in Orange. Our studio is in Orange. We'll have to hook up. I'll have to take you to see the Pirate Charles band. They have flute too!

Chaeya

Where in Orange. Where does the Pirate Charles Band play?