every single person needs to stop coming on this post saying "OmG how WEIRD! how have they--" it's racism. stop pretending you don't know that this post is about antiblack racism and the way that it makes nonblack people (and, let's be real, this is tumblr — white people) ignore, discount, forget, disqualify, and belittle black art, black culture, and black excellence. stop pretending you don't know this. every single person who this post is about has seen a movie that uses a soul or funk song in its soundtrack, or an advertisement, or has heard one of the many extremely famous and beloved soul or funk songs that are played on the radio, or has heard people use the phrases and expressions which have entered the american lexicon, or been popularized, through the media of soul or funk music. what is being identified and pointed to here is the way that antiblack racism is expressed through people's failure to recognize, identify, legitimate, or "remember" black cultural contributions no matter how good they are or how ubiquitous they may become. this post is just as applicable, as well, to hip-hop and disco and ska and all the other black musical forms which most white people studiously ignore in every case where the culture has not already been stolen and sanitized and stripped of its black character on their behalf and for their enjoyment. it also is no coincidence that two of the genres which white people have had the hardest time replicating, bleaching, bottling, and selling — and which they are therefore obligated by their racism to ignore rather than to lay claim to as has so often been done with rock, disco, ska, and hip-hop — are "soul" and "funk," words that describe not just musical styles but also certain aesthetic styles and outlooks and personal qualities that are just as black in their origin as the music is. a person can have soul, people say, or be funky, but these too are words and ideas and concepts that originate from and refer to black culture. what i am pointing to is the staggering and willful blind spot that so many of my fellow honkies have for black people and black culture, art, and music. stop making it worse by pretending you think i'm talking about people who are wackily forgetful
snowghoul
ellievsbear
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
