# racist question? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2000, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407 "2000-11-16T03:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/21 "2000-11-16T18:48:14Z")
Unless **djf750** comes back to clarify, let’s assume that the question is “How popular are the Beatles, Elvis, and other white musical artists among black persons?” or “How much more or less popular are such artists among blacks than among whites?”. I’m sure that the music industry has done studies of exactly this sort of thing (you want to know who your customers are, after all), and that someone here has access to those statistics, so I think that we can leave this in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/22 "2000-11-16T20:10:30Z")
I didn’t take them as having bad intentions. They could have been worded a little more sensitively, or as Chronos put it to ask for more specifics of data. But I didn’t sense that the questions themselves were bad. Sure you can say “obviously”, but several posters have noted their own experiences and the high percentage of whites vs low percentage of blacks, so I think it is a fair question. Maybe it was just a lack of clarifying information of the reason behind asking the question that sparked people’s derision. Of course I’m white, so I’m sure someone will now accuse me of being racist. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/23 "2000-11-16T20:13:56Z")
To expand on my answer, if _I_ had felt any unease with the question or need for further clarification, I would have responded with something like “Of course, why wouldn’t they?” Then it would be up to djf750 to come back and clarify what was meant. Simple question, simple answer, no need to assume motives or get insulted. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/24 "2000-11-16T22:24:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smitty \* > \*\*She also like Tom Jones, but we’re getting her some help. \*\* Smitty, bite your goddamned tongue!!! jb ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/25 "2000-11-16T22:28:20Z")
OK. **uhhhh** [cartman voice] Ouch, goddammit, that hurts, ya buttlicker! [/cartman voice] ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/26 "2000-11-16T22:49:59Z")
I’ve known quite a few black people who listened to rock music. In fact, I was introduced to Slayer by one. But for the most part, black people listening to ‘white’ music is pretty rare. This may change - more and more rap music is sampling white bands from the 1980s instead of black bands from the '70s. Puff Daddy does a lot of this, sampling The Police, Led Zeppelin, etc… ---
**Author:** ![SaxmanM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@SaxmanM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaxmanM)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/27 "2000-11-17T00:40:42Z")
I was huge fan of Living Colour in high school, even have all the albums. (“Elvis Is Dead” is perhaps the greatest song ever!) But other than them, I’m only a casual observer of rock music, since my musical tastes run almost exclusively along the lines of jazz and funk (no dearth of black artists there 🙂 ). From where I sit, it does seem that there are few currently uber-successul black artists in the rock/pop idiom. Lenny Kravitz and Hootie & The Blowfish are the only ones that come to mind. I’m sure there are others…? ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/28 "2000-11-17T02:21:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SaxmanM \* > \*\*From where I sit, it does seem that there are few currently uber-successul black artists in the rock/pop idiom. Lenny Kravitz and Hootie & The Blowfish are the only ones that come to mind. I’m sure there are others…? > \*\* Uhh…Hootie and the Blowfish has 3-4 white members, and ONE black lead singer (who went to high school with my brother in law, whoopty-doo) I hardly think they qualify as a “black” group. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > **This may change - more and more rap music is sampling white bands from the 1980s instead of black bands from the '70s. Puff Daddy does a lot of this, sampling The Police, Led Zeppelin, etc…** Every black friend I’ve ever had denied vehemently that black people actually listen to Puff Daddy, even Snoop Dogg anymore. According to them, anyone who gets too popular with the white crowd automatically loses most of their popularity with blacks. It’s an interesting theory which I am inclined to believe, given the authenticity of the sources. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/29 "2000-11-17T02:25:44Z")
Black people used to buy Michael Jackson records…now only white people do. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Reboot42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Reboot42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reboot42)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/30 "2000-11-17T07:46:50Z")
I don’t know, but if they do, the percentage has dropped since the ‘creation’ of black rap. Friends of mine have told me that when they go to watch black oriented movies that the majority of the audience is everyone but blacks. That surprised me, because I figured the place would be packed with black people going to watch black actors. Now on BET, with the black comedy hour, they pan the audience and whites are definitely in the minority there. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/31 "2000-11-17T10:19:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*Unless **djf750** comes back to clarify, let’s assume that the question is “How popular are the Beatles, Elvis, and other white musical artists among black persons?” or “How much more or less popular are such artists among blacks than among whites?”. > > I’m sure that the music industry has done studies of exactly this sort of thing (you want to know who your customers are, after all), and that someone here has access to those statistics, so I think that we can leave this in GQ. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/32 "2000-11-17T14:59:52Z")
Yep. Thanks for the reminder, **waterj**. I sure would like to see more cites and fewer WAGs in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/33 "2000-11-17T15:24:40Z")
This topic triggers a reminiscence . . . Back in early 1977, when I was a senior in high school, there briefly appeared on the charts a “hair band” called Angel (afterwards quickly forgotten). They played Music Hall in Cleveland, in a series of concerts sponsored by a station that was 101 on the FM dial, so they were specially priced at only $1.01. The Angel concert was being filmed filming it and they requested everyone in the audience to wear white–to match the all-white attire of the band and the overall color scheme: white-on-white. So during the concert I looked around and observed a couple of black guys, not participating in the vivacity of the concert, sitting slouched down in their seats, arms folded, faces grim, dressed head to toe in **black!** ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/34 "2000-11-17T15:33:36Z")
During the Black Power Movement in the 1960s, there was criticism of intelligence tests that were too heavily biased toward white America. So someone came up with the Black Intelligence Test to Counter Honkeyism (BITCH). The only way you could achieve a high score on this test was to be thoroughly versed in African-American culture. I remember one of the questions was: > [@](#): > > Do the Beatles have SOUL? (In case you can’t guess, the answer was “No”.) ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407/35 "2000-11-17T16:13:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > \*\*do black people buy beatles records? how about elvis records? \*\* Hey look! It’s a guy with a low post count posting inflammatory questions! How unusual! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racist-question/41407.md?page=1)