First of all, I did not feel at all that you were attacking me personally. There was no hint of it whatsoever. Moreover, you made me realize that I should be more careful when posting on a public forum what can be a sensitive issue. I called up my teacher just now and told him about the whole thing. First, he wanted to watch the video. Second, he just chuckled and said to keep him posted. He also added that I can use his name on the forum.

I believe that there is a difference between stereotyping and observing the reality of certain cultural traits a people group or regional people commonly share. Yes, a lot of times it is like walking on thin ice. What makes it even worse is that we are all encapsulated by our own culture. My teacher Johnny and his cousin Dick Contino were born and raised in an Italian community right next to a black neighborhood. Johnny said that black musicians taught him a lot and he played in a black band for a long time. I have known Johnny over 30 years, and when Johnny made that remark, I knew that he was sharing out of his ample experiences– not stereo-typing. However, on a public forum I should have “polished” it up, or varnished it to the effect that my teacher who has been exposed to a lot of black musicians said he noticed that many of them are either good or bad and very few mediocre instead of a definitive, “They are either good or bad, and nothing in between.”

By the way, I wish you had quoted one whole paragraph of mine, in which I mentioned a mutual friend of my teacher and mine; Peter a black minister who was a Hollywood recording artist. I mentioned the exact same comment to Peter. I thought that way my quote in its entirety was a little less bad…. I know you didn’t mean to take my quote out of the context.

A few years back, I told Johnny that I wanted to learn black gospel music. He laughed and said that I should move to the black neighborhood and live there for a while. A lot of truth to that. He is talking about total immersion. Cross-cultural immersion or a musical immersion. Then he introduced Peter to me; Peter “a guy who plays the wrong note and makes it sound good” according to Johnny. Once again, a crude expression by Johnny but it so captures the essence of it in such simple words. Doesn’t Jazz or black gospel music involve a lot of the right use of the “wrong” note?

The theory of America as a melting pot has been out. After that, they talked about America as a salad bowl where each ingredient is distinctively still there and yet in harmony with others. I want us to celebrate the differences we have. Differences challenge our own assumptions, too I think that’s why Byron said a person who knows only one culture doesn’t know culture. I think we can talk about and celebrate (even laugh about) the differences without stereo-typing. Yesterday, when I played my digital accordion room to room in a new, upscale retirement center, the staff members would give the ethnic background of each resident to me. There were German, Swedish, Irish, Greek, Japanese, and etc.. Then I would play ethnic tunes. People love it. When I was playing a traditional Japanese tune, I heard the staff members saying to each other, “Look, their faces (the Japanese couple), their expressions… Then we came to a gentleman. I saw him counting with his fingers trying to figure out his multi-ethnic backgrounds, perhaps. In the end, he said, "I don't know. I am just an American." We all laughed and at the same time it gave me an opportunity to play American tunes in a meaningful way. Being afraid to celebrate the differences and calling it stereo-typing Is ironically another form of stereo-typing in my view. Well, enough of that for now.

On a difference note, thanks for the opportunity to interact with you directly. One of these days I am going to pick a fight with you about the accordion! LOL. Mind you there are a lot of us here on the forum! We will “squeeze” you until you say, “Uncle” and pick up a squeezebox yourself.” Oops, some accordion players don’t like the word squeezebox.

[A humor based on race stereotype given by my black minister/musician friend of mine when we were eating watermelon together is deleted.]

Chris