EDIT: Paragraphs are good... now all I need is to write sentences longer than most people's paragraphs...
That's really pretty sad, I got into metal because there was just no way, it seemed, for it to be spoiled by the self-righeous fucks who polarized and had expectations of that kind. It seems that when black people were such a large part of the jazz counter-culture, and then when a bunch of pasty-asses stole Southern music and wussed it down for rock, it was because the 'negg-er-oes' were demonizing culture, but when you turn around and you have metal being the demonization of culture (and rap just being people who should be in jail, not a threat to culture but just convenience and safety), not just with superficial things like the PMRC and the backwards record suicide bits but with a whole backlash against this offshoot of black music primarily engaged by white Americans as a result of what a bunch of Brits were doing, you wonder (1) how people can be so confused about what race and culture they hate and (2) how these new demons can further demonize amongst themselves.
I'll put this out in the open - I hate everyone equally, all the fucks young and old, regardless of race, sex, or origin - and I think that a real part of being that way (or, if you're not an asshole, not treating differently people of different race, sex, or origin) is being able to look at what your alternatives are and why bigotry is still so popular, and I've never been able to put a finger on what it is about metal that allows it to be this split- and counter-culture and at the same time begin to develop, to a large degree, the culture and attitude that it was supposedly developing against. I wish I could figure it out, because it's always been fascinating how this stuff plays out, but I will say that at the very least people who act up as racist assholes at metal shows around San Antonio will often get the shit kicked out of them for it, whether they're white, black, or anywhere in between, so there's some self-policing and a large portion of the people I wind up around are totally in support of that.
I won't say anything about Jada Pinko-whateverthefuckitis because I haven't heard enough of the stuff to care and I consider the whole Ozzfest fiasco to be simply disgusting and disgraceful at this point, but I don't personally think the real problem with that band was the fact that she was black but that she was seen as someone just looking for self promotion of some sort, or a fun little hobby, with a rich sugar daddy to pay her way in and a few more toys to play with, and I'd certainly hope that race wasn't the issue (with Blabbermouth you never know, finding opinions at that place is like trying to count ice cubes in a blender). All I can say is, if you play well you're fucking metal, period, end of discussion, because metal has enough shit to worry about as a group in itself to be segregated based on what it's supposed to escape.
Jeff
. There were 157,508 housing units at an average density of 2,809.8/mi² (1,084.8/km²
