Re: Raygunn The Appropriator’s defense of her Olympics mess–
But this hits on something white people have been doing for decades and even stamped with coolness in the fifties: Fetishising the myth of Black Cultural Primitivity. We don’t even have to touch rock and roll. The worst offenders were the Beats who thought they were doing jazz a massive favour by liking it. Ginsberg himself once said that BeBop made him just want to “grab a horn and blow,” which is nice I guess, but every player who played bebop was a genius and there is no such thing as a bebop dabbler. And yes, some of those geniuses were white. Also I’m pretty sure you were listening to modal jazz and post-bop you jackass. I’m sure Michael Jordan made some people think they too could jump, but it’s the idea that a black person’s remarkable achievement must be within the mediocre white person’s capability that made the desire such dangerous nonsense. Otherwise they go to the other end of the spectrum and label it a feat of freakishness a term also used to describe Jordan. And Hendrix. Plastic soulchild Duffy once said she sang soul because to her it is about “feeling”. No girl, soul is about immortal technique, GENIUS by another name; that’s why there is only one Aretha and one Patti, hell one Tina Marie. We see these words all the time, effortless, baffling, easy, instinctual, words you will never see describing Stravinsky even though Rites of Spring caused riots. Austrabreaker says she taught herself her own moves, because it’s about feeling right? Doing what you like? bringing your own style to rewrite the game. Forget technique. Forget paying your dues. Forget that half of the world’s best breakers are women. Forget mastery or even watching the masters and the elders because black art could not possibly have shit like tradition, practice, or even standards. Forget that maybe, just maybe this thing is outside your realm of possibility and your job is to watch in awe. This is why the average white man still thinks he could beat Serena Williams. This is why Harry Connick Jr once said rock and roll takes no skill or intelligence. This is why that girl thought why not, I’ll just become the first female Masai warrior. This is why Austragirl thinks that all you gotta do is feel the black shit and it’s hers. Girl, no.
White culture = thinking that all you gotta do is feel the black shit and it’s yours
