Why is Anglo-American prog so white?

eldridge wrote: Hercules wrote: Black? White? Any other colour in between?   What does it matter?   My ancestors went for a walk about 70000 years ago and turned left when they left Africa. My friend Vijay's ancestors turned right instead. Some people's ancestors didn't feel the need to go for a walk because they liked it in Africa.   I really don't see the need to get hung up on race when we all came from the same ancestors and we're all really the same except for varying amounts of skin pigment. Maybe where we ended up affected us more from a cultural standpoint; perhaps African Americans got exposed to Country music which is possibly why they invented the blues to express their dissatisfaction and I totally understand!   I'd ask a different question - why are so few women involved in prog except as singers??? So we're all essentially identical twins with just a different paint job? There's absolutely no difference between an Australian Aboriginal and a Japanese?  Culture is a manifestation of race. Culture does not exist independent of race. Cultures are racial constructs. Who, in their right mind, likes it in Africa? Blacks did not invent blues. Who invented the instruments? What were blacks dissatisfied with? Being the most prosperous blacks of any in the world? Where would they have been better off? Why are there so few women? Why are there no female composers? Why are there no women in the NFL? Sexism, of course.

Why not give us your answers to the questions you posed. The blues were invented by the blacks and the original instruments of the blues were their voices.

jude111 wrote: Eldridge says he's superior. I guess Eldridge can sing better than Marvin Gaye, can play the sax better than Charlie Parker, write better piano compositions than Thelonious Monk, play better guitar than Wes Montgomery, compose better jazz standards than Duke Ellington. LOL. On a *music* site, Eldridge is going to try to convince us that whites are superior!!! Hahahaha. Eldridge also says he invented blues and instruments that Africans play. Did you invent the kora, Eldridge?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DEKQjj6Ga0

Not once did I say I was superior. They're are no racial hierarchies. I simply acknowledge racial differences. All the musicians you sited are very talented. The only one I really like is Marvin Gaye but I acknowledge the skill of the others. All well and good. Talented musicians alone do not build civilizations. Whites and NorthEast Asians( Japanese, Chinese, Koreans) have built the most advanced civilizations. This is no accident. Nonwhites from all over the world want to come in live white countries, not viceversa.

Hercules wrote: eldridge wrote: Hercules wrote: Black? White? Any other colour in between?   What does it matter?   My ancestors went for a walk about 70000 years ago and turned left when they left Africa. My friend Vijay's ancestors turned right instead. Some people's ancestors didn't feel the need to go for a walk because they liked it in Africa.   I really don't see the need to get hung up on race when we all came from the same ancestors and we're all really the same except for varying amounts of skin pigment. Maybe where we ended up affected us more from a cultural standpoint; perhaps African Americans got exposed to Country music which is possibly why they invented the blues to express their dissatisfaction and I totally understand!   I'd ask a different question - why are so few women involved in prog except as singers??? So we're all essentially identical twins with just a different paint job? There's absolutely no difference between an Australian Aboriginal and a Japanese?  Not absolutely identical, but the variation is less than 0.25% of our genome. That's why all humans can interbreed successfully as we're genetically so similar. Those of us whose ancestors migrated to Northern Europe evolved slightly differently, losing our skin pigmentation (all our ancient ancestors had dark skin) so that we could synthesise vitamin D better in the relatively weak sunlight. Those who migrated to the East and settled in the Indian subcontinent kept it to protect them against UV.   Most differences between us are essentially cultural and it's cultural issues that seems to provoke racial friction in Britain. I don't get it; I don't like it. I prefer to celebrate the rich, varied culture that people from all backgrounds have brought to my country, not just the indigenous white traditions.

eldridge wrote: They're are no racial hierarchies... Whites and NorthEast Asians( Japanese, Chinese, Koreans) have built the most advanced civilizations. This is no accident. Nonwhites from all over the world want to come in live white countries, not viceversa.

Can we get this troll out of here?

kjprogger wrote: OK I'll take the bait.  The Prog tent is open to everyone, but non-Anglo cultures are not drawn to the genre.  If there were any Black or Chinese Prog bands making interesting music, I would enthusiastically support it. But (to my knowledge), those groups don't exist.  ...

Hey, slow down: There's plenty of non-Anglo prog bands: Italian prog, German prog, French prog, Scandinavian prog, Eastern European prog; South American prog, Indonesian prog, Japanese prog. I know of 2 Chinese prog bands. We could go on and on.

timothy leary wrote: eldridge wrote: Hercules wrote: Black? White? Any other colour in between?   What does it matter?   My ancestors went for a walk about 70000 years ago and turned left when they left Africa. My friend Vijay's ancestors turned right instead. Some people's ancestors didn't feel the need to go for a walk because they liked it in Africa.   I really don't see the need to get hung up on race when we all came from the same ancestors and we're all really the same except for varying amounts of skin pigment. Maybe where we ended up affected us more from a cultural standpoint; perhaps African Americans got exposed to Country music which is possibly why they invented the blues to express their dissatisfaction and I totally understand!   I'd ask a different question - why are so few women involved in prog except as singers??? So we're all essentially identical twins with just a different paint job? There's absolutely no difference between an Australian Aboriginal and a Japanese?  Culture is a manifestation of race. Culture does not exist independent of race. Cultures are racial constructs. Who, in their right mind, likes it in Africa? Blacks did not invent blues. Who invented the instruments? What were blacks dissatisfied with? Being the most prosperous blacks of any in the world? Where would they have been better off? Why are there so few women? Why are there no female composers? Why are there no women in the NFL? Sexism, of course. Why not give us your answers to the questions you posed. The blues were invented by the blacks and the original instruments of the blues were their voices.

It's true blacks put their unique stamp on blues. In any case, music styles aren't invented, they evolve over time. Blacks were, admittedly, pivotal in this development. Oh, well I asked who invented the instruments rhetorically but it was whites, along with the silicon chip, airplanes, computers, penicillin. I'll leave it at that for now.

And that's why having a discussion on a topic associated with race is a dangerous idea.

And to name it Anglo American prog is very narrow to begin with.

Perhaps your topic was a little inflammatory

Edited by jude111 - January 09 2013 at 14:34