Blues culture

The culture of the blues involves a strange duality. At the core are "authentic" black people whose musical pedigrees and correctness-to-form are monitored and extolled by a largely white connoisseur class, who keep the music alive in much the same spirit that the British have when they express fascination with African bushmen. It is much more disturbing than racism. It is connoisseur's presumption of cultural authority, whereby they dictate the terms of critical evaluation and the conditions under which the blues are produced and consumed. It is the oppression of deny others their own identity.