I'm sorry that I didn't preview my last post-not because I would retract from anything that I wrote, but it should have been written better.

Let me try again:

IMO, the absence of racial designations for folk songs can lead to a number of erroneous conclusions. One conclusion is that prior to emancipation, Black Americans seldom created any music of value besides spirituals.

Another conclusion that some might reach is that most antebellum American folk songs were created by White Americans. I believe that people might reach the latter conclusion because in the absence of racial designation, "White" is the default racial cultural category.

[I also believe that "White" is the default racial category on the Internet. And in this case that is probably more often correct than incorrect. But in the case of antebellum American folk songs, I don't believe that one would be correct in assuming that most of these songs were composed by White Americans].

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Well, I'm still not satisfied with how this is phrased, but I think it's better than my previous attempt.


Azizi Powell