Elson Trinidad (elson@westworld.com)
Mon, 08 Mar 1999 22:13:15 -0800
At 12:24 AM 3/9/99 -0500, Neosoulman@aol.com wrote:
>In response the initial comment however, I see nothing wrong with blacks
>trying to compete for equal consideration in arenas which may be racist -
>after all, ever heard of Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson (I will avoid going on
>and on...) To win despite the odds is a triumph.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Exactly. You said it perfectly.
<addressing the whole list now>
You wanna talk being ignored by the Grammies (or any mainstream award?) I'm an
Asian-American (Filipino, specifically) and now that there are various Latin
categories, no group is ignored in the entertainment world more than my kind.
But that's not my point. A great deal of the reason why I'm an aspiring
musician/singer/songwriter/producer is because of that fact, because there
aren't very many of my kind out there, and that I want to "win despite the
odds."
Hypothetically speaking, if I won a Grammy, even though 80% of this list would
suddenly hate me and deem me a "sellout," I would actually be happy and proud
of the acheivement, and hope it paves the way for more people like me. It's
easy for a white person to knock anything that's "mainstream," mainly because
they are the mainstream. And it's also stupid to say that blacks are *totally*
ignored by the NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences); surely
moreso in the past, but now that there are African-Americans who are actually
*in* NARAS, and a good number of them have been nominated and won, it's really
hard to say NARAS is truly "racist." Maybe lacking in musical taste, but not
"racist" in the full sense. Now how many Asian-Americans have won, or even
been nominated for a Grammy? Of course, some of you out there think that we're
more inclined to program computers and become mathemeticians than to make
music...but I guess that's just another stereotype to be fought.
Elson
- 30 -
:. elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
:. elson@westworld.com
:. www.westworld.com/~elson
"funny how frustration breeds desire" - meja
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