New York Times looks at race in underground music

The New York Times recently assembled a story about black fans of indie rock, punk and other underground music. Despite the long history of black musicians in everything from rock'n'roll (Chuck Berry, Jimmy Hendrix) to punk (Dead Kennedys) to hardcore (Bad Brains) to modern acts like Bloc Party, TV On the Radio and Whole Wheat Bread, indie and punk are largely seen as a white, suburban phenomenon.

The story examines some of the people attempting to break free of these stereotypes, and despite the condescending name it applies to them ("blipsters") it looks at some the interesting reactions:

For a long time I was laughed at by both black and white people about being the only black person in my school that liked Nirvana and bands like that.

Another showgoer was frequently mistaken for a security guard. Sadly, the negative stereotypes also extend the other way:

There's an unfortunate tendency for some black people to think if you listen to rock music or want to play rock music, you're an Uncle Tom,

Of course, Cocker Spaniel's "The Only Black Guy at the Indie Rock Show" may be the most succinct way of examining the whole issue.

You can check out the entire story here.