White presence in black music

Has the racial bias in the US allowed for non-white groups to express their culture fully?

In its beginnings, jazz music was a natural creation influenced by the many cultural identities that black people in the US associated with. From rhythms and beats from indigenous African musical traditions, phrases and ideas from spirituals, and the melodic intricacies of european folk music came a way for American blacks to convey their experiences living in the US.  The expression aspect is key. Jazz and blues were a way for blacks to cope with the oppressive societal ideals that whites imposed upon them. Anthony Pinn describes jazz as "a way of humanizing a dehumanizing environment" (Making a World with a Beat, 3). So, it appears a little strange that jazz has become so whitewashed in recent years. In the early stages of jazz, as a genre it was seen by whites as lewd, dangerous, immoral, and inappropriate. But now, since jazz music has been around so long, it has been transformed into something safe and acceptable for whites. The original intention of jazz has been ignored and replaced by something less offensive to whites. Jazz's ties to oppression have been long forgotten so that whites can enjoy it without being offended. What was once a form of basic human expression has been appropriated into an indication of sophistication being cultured. One of the most famous jazz musicians, Louis Armstrong, was criticized for making his performances more commercially appealing to white people by furthering negative black stereotypes in the way he acted on stage and in films. In his performances he would sometimes pretend to be the idiotic oaf that white culture wanted him to be, even though he was an extremely talented, respectable man. He was not intimidating or overtly hateful or inappropriate in his music so he was chosen as a figurehead for making jazz more safe for whites. But in appropriating jazz and removing the emotional aspects, you strip it of its essence and all that is left is a melody and a beat.