I grew up in Northern Virginia, but I did not enter the Virginian public school system until middle school. Upon entering I soon found out that framing the civil war as fought over slavery is a common misconception and that the true nature of the war revolved around states rights. It was often argued by my teachers that the north had a booming strong economy and abolishing slavery was a tactic to help cripple the agriculturally based southern economy and create dependence on the north.

I feel like children are taught not to question the information they receive in class and accept it as truth. The question I have though is does every history teacher in Virginia believe the bias towards the south they teach concerning the Civil War?

To some degree I’ve been swayed by what I’ve been taught in school. I do think the idea of waging such a dividing and bloody war was not simply to end slavery. I think it’s highly likely that fighting to end slavery may have been used as northern propaganda to recruit an army. Using moral purpose is effective in raising a driven and righteous army. It happened during World War II. I won’t say I know my facts spot on, but I’m pretty sure the U.S. weapons and supplies to both England and Germany prior to engagement in the war. The U.S. was very steadfast in its policy of neutrality and isolationism, but once entered into the war recruitment was all about moral duty and patriotism.

But back to topic. Is there any one reason for war? The Civil War was probably fought over a number of reasons. There is probably truth to states rights and slavery as causes. Can it not also be said that the acceptable reasons for war were preached by the politicians of the time while the real reasons remained hidden? I’m alluding to today’s war on terror that has acquired beaucoup bucks for certain businesses. History is written by the victors, and can surely be distorted by those who wrote it and the passing of time and interpretation.

A classmate brought up the point that black culture is frowned upon. A white person can then market that same black culture in the guise of white culture and instantaneously receive both success and acceptance. Iggy Azalea was an example of this. Though I do agree with my classmate’s sentiment, they argued that these white artists misrepresent something they are not truly part of and encourage to further the racist regime started by the minstrel shows.

However, there are artists like Eminem who are white and take from black culture in a genuine way. He grew up in a tough environment surrounded by black people and could be say to be assimilated into it. He genuinely represents that culture, but because he’s white there is automatically this connection to white fans who then think its okay take from black culture. My classmate said that if they do not genuinely represent black culture than it promotes racism and the marketing of black culture. Eminem however is genuine but creates the same problem. Is it Eminem’s fault that white listeners can relate to him and further the racist regime of the music industry? Are politics and music always related? Is the artist’s pursuit of their dream immoral because of the political effects it may cause?

I grew up in a highly diverse environment where racism wasn’t something I knew existed. I saw my classmates as equal regardless of gender or race. I’ve found outside of the bubble I had lived in there is a lot of racism and on both sides. They assume all black people pertain to a certain stereotype and all white people are assumed racist. These extreme views cause harm to the majority who aren’t a stereotype and who aren’t racist. It’s created this hostile uncomfortable environment. I know a black person who calls bystanders equally racist and responsible for not aiding blacks against racists. It’s not exactly against a tangible instance of racism but in general. In being silent and not spamming posts about putting down racism, we’re somehow racist. This fabricated guilt is unreasonable. Yes, I can’t understand the racist oppression that blacks have suffered from, but focusing on the negative aspects of the racial problems is not helpful. We don’t hear the stories of community that transcends race. It happens all the time. It’s in fact normal to be not racist but we tend to overlook that. Positive enforcement of good values is better than repeatedly giving attention to negative values.

I don’t want to overstate and generalize as I’m speaking from my own perspective. I’m not sure whether my feelings are shared by most people or are unique to me. I think the world is very chaotic, or rather we’re unable to comprehend the order that the world adheres to. In order to not be overwhelmed by the complexity of the world, we tend to simplify and categorize creating the perception of order. I think genre is a byproduct of that need.

Genres are groupings of music that share certain characteristics. I think there are some songs that exemplify those characteristics and really represent their respective genres, but there are other songs that draw from multiple genres. Even then I like to imagine a space or overlap similar to a venn diagram between two genres that acts almost as a third genre for songs to fit into. The only problem with this is I know songs that have elements of metal, punk, rock, blues and jazz all in one song. Where exactly does that song fit? Where does the band who plays that song fit? Do they shift genres depending on the song or album you talk about?

I play music and people always want to categorize me to better understand what I’m going for. What bands do you sound like? What genre do you want to play? Really when I’m writing it depends on my mood. I’ll write very ambient soundscapey ideas, mellow acoustic music or something heavier with punk or metal roots. Maybe to an outside listener, my music all has my own stamp or style to it no matter what genres I transcend. When it comes to my own stuff, I stopped trying to categorize or understand and just play and enjoy the music I make.

Rock n roll and all its derivatives are thought to be music created through the white man stealing from the black man. In my opinion, although early “white” rock, jazz and blues  players did “steal” from their “black” counterparts, is this not true for any industry? Ingenuity, whether it be science or arts, or anything in between has been built on what came before. Because much of popular music is, in some way, rooted in slave music, criticism results from racial stigma.

Progress is often made when an old idea is changed through a new perspective. Writers cite other writers as influences that helped them develop new styles and write literary classics. Painters cite other painters as inspiration for their works. Although musicians may cite other musicians as influence to their work, ultimately they are seen, in some way, as stealing from black culture.

I find this criticism of music because of race unfair. I find the idea of race in the US very interesting. There are places in the country with blatant racists with white people who belittle everyone else and black people who are so sensitive to issues concerning race they are oppressing anyone else. On the opposite side, you have areas with the increasing blending of race to where nobody knows what they are anymore. Employers are starting to do away with the race box in applications.

I write music. The idea that I steal from black people is absurd to me. Yes, in some long winded way my music is built on old slave songs, but its not stolen. I think we are all creatures who are ingenious and simultaneously not. The present is built from the past, and creators shouldn’t be criticized for their influences.