There is no qualifier in the Article’s title, but it does go on to specify it is a concert of “Sacred Music.”\u00a0 So why is it referred to as “Black music” and not “Sacred Music” or “Black Sacred Music.”\u00a0 If it were a concert of only white sacred music, it would simply be called something vaguely inspiring with a Bible verse with no reference to race.<\/p>\n This must indicate some subconscious association with Blackness and Spirituality, perhaps best exemplified by\u00a0a well-meaning, but woefully ignorant, lady in my church choir, saying, “Those Blacks sing so well because they put the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – oh I’m sorry I mean the Holy Ghost as they call it – in every note.”\u00a0 It is certainly a pervasive concept in our collective consciousness that Black singers excel at being Spiritual, but our acknowledgement of the excellence of Black singers in other regards have nothing to do with their race.\u00a0 When we talk about Lawrence Brownlee, his race and spirituality stay out of it until someone brings up his performance of Spirituals.<\/p>\n I’ll only posit one possible reason, since I am no expert on cultural consciousness and race, but I have seen quite a bit.\u00a0 Spirituals and Slave Songs (which are almost always sacred in some regard) were among the first types of Black music to become truly popular.\u00a0 The Fisk Jubilee Singers in particular helped with that becoming the first American ensemble to tour internationally, bringing an entirely sacred style of singing to the world.\u00a0 I would argue that since then, our ability to separate Blackness from Spirituality has diminished greatly.\u00a0 This may have nefarious purposes in stereotyping Black people as overly emotional or passionate, but could just be an honest inability to separate from our initial impression (this phenomenon is called Reference Dependence in Behavioral Economics, and plays a huge role in your willingness to pay certain prices for certain items).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When asking American music students to name a distinctly Black style of music, most will jump onto the term “Spiritual,” or even “Negro Spiritual” if they feel the need to be more precise (as though we ever refer to sacred … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/593\/2019\/10\/Image-10-9-19-at-8.58-PM.jpg\")
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