Examples are legion: when young Malcom Little straightforwardly stated he wanted to be a lawyer his white teacher bluntly 'told him that's not a career for a _____'. Young Nina Simone wanted nothing more than to be a classical pianist yet, despite the raw talent, wasn't accepted at the schools that taught this because of her color.

To all of you who are saying' it's up to the individual.' No, it isn't. B.B King credited Frank Sinatra with putting his clout on the line in order to help King and others play in Las Vegas and other places outside the so-called 'chitlin circuit.' (where do you think Sinatra first met Sammy Davis Jr.?)

For an entire generation, not to mention a genre, Elvis Presley was a gateway drug to 'black music,' helping to usher in the 'British invasion' which was largely a Muddy Waters tribute tour. (I grew up thinking Clapton was the best, until I read a magazine interview where he gushed over Buddy Guy. Once I started listening to Buddy Guy, and heard him speaking in awed tones about B.B. King...forget about it.). David Bowie grew up idolizing Little Richard... It took the Brits and their love of the Blues to make the Blues acceptable to White America. If you think about it for any length of time, it's absurd... But there it is. White people, then as now, have the choice to be help or hindrance, and doing nothing defaults to hindrance.