Black Exceptionalism Is Not Always Black Excellence
When Black people struggled to penetrate media of any kind, any representation was historic — but we need more from our art
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
On the last day of the 2021 edition of Black History Month, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio hosted a program celebrating the work of Black composers. The performance included work by William Grant Still; Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges; and Jeffrey Mumford. Being a faculty recital, the music was performed exclusively by White musicians, which is admittedly a redundant statement. I could be making an Oberlin joke here, but really, the overwhelming Whiteness of classical musicians and instructors would be true almost anywhere in America. Conservatories aren’t exactly brimming with Black harpsichord players.
While all of this cast grave suspicion on the equity of Oberlin’s staffing metrics, none of this was as bad as the event’s flyer, which featured not portraits of the three Black composers, but headshots of the five White musicians. To clarify: A performance titled “A Celebration of Black Artistry” marketed itself with pictures of five White people.
