Racist Musical Taste?

"Does it bother you that your musical taste is almost exclusively white?"

A friend of mine asked me that question many moons ago in a terrible pub in the Midlands. The question was completely out of the blue and somewhat surprising - this particular friend is not one for deep, thought-provoking questions about music and the pub (which was so bad that they actually had to lower the height of the bar for all the under-age drinkers) was not the sort of venue where you do any thinking. And as a result I really couldn't think of answer. Initially I wanted to contradict him and point out that my musical taste is not exclusively white, but, barring a few albums by Massive Attack and The Specials (who are mixed race bands), his assertion is fundamentally right. I have never liked rap, and I have never liked reggae. So at the time I spluttered an answer about how I had never really thought about it and how it didn't really matter to me anyway. But every now and again, in a slow or boring moment, I have found my mind returning to that question.

And finally I have reached an answer. Of sorts.

I'm not racist - I see racism as not only grossly unfair and counter-productive but also extremely ignorant. It is true that I have no issue with disliking some people, but any dislike is always based on what I think about their personalities and the way they act. Not based on their race, skin colour, sex, religious beliefs or anything else. So I do not think my musical taste is in anyway racist, even though it is almost exclusively white.

Now, given my background, it is hardly surprising that I like music that I tend to describe as being made by "four pasty white boys earnestly clutching guitars." My musical taste tends to be either Indie or Prog rock. I love the likes of Pink Floyd, The Smiths, The Who, The Arcade Fire, The Clash, New Order - the list goes on and on. And given my background - white, public school and red-brick university educated, with much of my childhood living in a small village listening to the likes of the Beatles, it makes sense that I would listen to guitar based music backed up with lyrics that can relate to. I can't relate to urban music because I am not from an urban background. Equally, I cannot stomach country music but may have been able to if I had grown up in the American Mid-West.

And I would actually argue that it would be more patronising for me to claim that I love rap or reggae when I don't. It would almost imply that those who produce that sort of music require me to like them - that me admiring their type of music would in some way vindicate their artistic work. And I know my opinions of them and their music is wonderfully irrelevant to them. They do not gain anything by me pretending to like their music. Just as I would not gain anything other than soothing my liberal ideals by pretending to like their music. I like music based on my background and music that I can relate to. There is nothing racist in that.

Furthermore, I would now argue that the question itself is, on some levels, racist. It highlights colour, and it highlights race. I firmly believe that racism only ends when people stop thinking about race and colour when asking questions and making choices. It is racist to stop someone getting a job based on the colour of their skin, just as positive discrimination/affirmative action is inherently racist. By giving someone a job because they are a particular race is racist because it is using race as the selection criteria for the job, rather than suitability for the job. So it is racist to chose music based on the race of the people who write and perform it. It is not racist to chose music based on what you like, even if that means that your musical collection is more based around your own race rather than other races.

So, to answer the question, no, it does not worry me that my music taste is almost exclusively white.

Of course, I concede that answer, and reasoning, would be a little more convincing if I had come up with it five and a half years ago. Rather than reaching the above conclusions earlier today, whilst doing the ironing.