I believe that it isn't intimidation, but the sense of not belonging to the scene itself that the general public is feeling. Because people feel like they do not belong to the social group and are even shunned from it, they retaliate with negative reactions towards it.
I often find myself torn between two worlds. The world I was raised in and the world I want to be a part of. The world I was raised in is one of the general public and more specifically the low to middle class African-American diaspora. In this environment I often feel embarrassed to admit that I am a classical musician and usually won't admit it at all. Too often people including my own family would tease me for appreciating and being apart of something so out of their own culture. This is also the reason that I am afraid to admit my true background in a conservatory setting. I fear that a will not be accepted into this world if I admit just how far placed my own cultural background is from the conservatory.
It is the fear of prejudice that has been cast from both the general public and classical music appreciators alike that there is such a divide in the two worlds. If this prejudice were to disappear and people truly became accepting of others, then they would be able to accept one another into new worlds unexplored. New worlds in which if they open themselves to it could be a sea of pleasures they once thought was a swamp.
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1 comment:
What a great post! Thanks for sharing your perspective. I find it interesting that you were embarrassed, in a conservatory setting, to admit that you enjoy rap. . .and that you are just as embarrassed discussing classical music in your home environment. A person like you who straddles two musical worlds so solidly could have such an important influence in both spheres. Don't be ashamed! The future of classical music needs more people like you. :-)
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