“
What’s most funny is that my composer friend confuses and confounds the racial
stereotypes of everybody. He is very traditionally ‘well spoken’ - even posh -
and a classical composer. He is also one of the best-dressed men going and manages to pull off 'out there’ fashions that most brothers would never try, such
as tweed suits and ponchos. Black people sometimes hear the accent, see the
clothes and assume 'he wants to be white’, because they have sadly internalised
the idea that there are only certain types of authentic ways to be black. I’ve seen
their shock too, when they realise how ‘black’ his politics are despite the suits,
the piano and the RP. He actually knows far more about African history and
culture than the vast majority of dashiki-wearing Afrocentrists. White people
often make the same mistake and say the strangest of things to him, again
thinking that he is not one of ‘those’ black people - you know, the ones that
respect and love themselves.
”
”