White musicians had Rasta hair and played Reggae music. Concert stopped.

[Markedforsl]

I'm including a translation of an article in a Berlin newspaper, about a concert which took place (or should have taken place) in Switzerland.
A band of white musicians played, among other things, some reggae music. Some of the band had rasta style hair.
Some concert-goers expressed "discomfort" with the situation to the organisers. The organisers stopped the concert and have made abject apologies.

YANBU: White musicians playing reggae music and even wearing dreadlocks while doing so is okay, and doesn't justify the immediate termination of a concert.
YABU: Only Jamaicans should play reggae music and/or have dreadlocks. If white people do either of those things it is racism and should not be allowed. Innocent concert-goers need to be protected from this.

"As reported by several media in Switzerland, the dialect band Lauwarm performed at the Brasserie Lorraine in Bern on 18 July. The five musicians were standing in for another band that had cancelled. The repertoire of the group Lauwarm includes reggae, indie, world and pop. But their colourful programme was not well received - apparently mainly because of the hairstyles. Concertgoers expressed "discomfort with the situation" to the organisers, report Neue Zürcher Zeitung and 20 Minuten.
The concert was stopped after the complaints. In a statement, the organiser now apologised for "awareness gaps". The audience should have been "better protected" before the performance. As the Brasserie Lorraine cooperative announced on Facebook on Monday, the discomfort of the visitors had been related to the topic of "cultural appropriation". That is: the band Lauwarm is criticised for being white musicians, wearing partly rasta haircuts and playing Jamaican reggae music, although they themselves have never experienced the racial exclusion of Jamaicans.
The organisers apologised "to all the people for whom the concert has caused bad feelings". They said they were responsible because they had invited the band. "We failed to deal with it enough in advance and to protect you." The lengthy apology to all those who suffered ends with the words, "Not a millimetre of room for Racism and other discrimination.."

One venue made a decision so the whole country is "lunatic"? (Whatever the fucking hell that means)

Have UB40 been "cancelled"? What about the Levellers?

Loc’s are associated with multiple cultures, and are also associated with “counter culture”.

Cultural appropriation is a problem, but this isn’t an example of cultural appropriation.

I don’t think anyone can seriously think the band are trying to take from another culture, and pass it off as their own.

I would say the music is appreciation, and the band member with Loc’s likely has them as they are counter culture, or perhaps he is Rastafarian, or Hindu...

He hasn’t surely “put on” those Loc’s as a costume, to make a mockery, or to claim them as his own invention. He just happens to have Loc’s, whilst playing reggae.

As I've already said, I was quoting from the newspaper article, which says this:
"the band Lauwarm is criticised for being white musicians, wearing partly rasta haircuts and playing Jamaican reggae music, although they themselves have never experienced the racial exclusion of Jamaicans."

Recently I watched a documentary about dance, specifically tap dance/Irish dance.

Theres lots of cross over in tap/Irish/clog dances over a number of countries, histories and cultures.

A couple of the dancers/commentators in the documentary felt strongly that things like the Irish Riverdance had appropriated tap from black culture and African dance histories and had no comprehension that there are other clog/tap type dances which are indigenous to other cultures and ethnicities.

Similarly a huge amount of music has its history in black gospel particularly in the US, but also African and Caribbean slave sounds or sounds of the south of the US, but a large amount of music also came of out traditional folk from Ireland/Scotland and that modern 'pop' is an amalgamation of this, its a mixture of simple country or religious or motivational singing, singing about lives and experiences, the sounds of feelings like that. Equally a lot of dance beats and sounds coming out of that, added to military type beats from army type influences across centuries. A huge mixture.

Its not a simple as saying that white musicians play 'black' music and make money from it.

Here’s a picture of the band. Only one musician is Rastafarian based on hair and his hat. But again, Rastafarian is a worldwide religion with adherents of many races and nationalities.

Oh my god! If I was packed off to a seminar based on skin colour, I'd be furious!

Honestly, the racism I encountered twenty years ago was way better than what's going on now.

glad to see sense on this thread.

I agree @EmmaH2022!

The hair thing always amuses me as Vikings use to have what would be termed as 'dreadlocks'.

As for the rest it just seems petty.

Did they?

Yes Vikings had braids and locs.
Celts did too- they’d add lime or clay to their hair as well to spike it out or shape hair into tribal locs. The lime would also bleach hair too.

Theres a lot of controversy about whether the Vikings 'stole' that hair arrangement from the Celts and earlier Germanic groups. The Romans wrote about the Celts and ancient Brits who had their hair in how they described it as 'rope'

In addition the Vikings had very elaborate and symbolic dreadlocks which was arranged according to status or marriage or celebration etc.

People genuinely are incredibly ignorant about history.

Ah cross posted, yes said the same thing

Was it UB40? (Although iirc they just did the music)...

You had to be there, surely? To know whether whatever it was, was aok or wtf.

yes as did some Celtic, German tribes and some early Christians.

Sorry too slow

That’s just mad. Just doesn’t stand up to any logic does it, you can’t tell someone’s heritage from the colour of their skin, you can’t neatly divide music into cultural silos, and there is a European history of dreadlocked hair.

Glad I grew up in the 90s.

Yes, I have read about that too. The spread of locs/braids in ancient times to Scandinavia. But to be fair, when the Romans invaded, occupied and colonised Gaul, Britain and Germania there were a lot of Celtic refugees that fled north or over the sea from Britain to Scandinavia and Ireland. So I often wonder if it wasn’t so much “stole” as adopted from incoming refugees.

@bellac11 - speaking common sense to lunacy. Thank you

The Drifters first sand 'White Christmas' but most people have only ever heard it sung by (and attributed to) Bing Crosby.

Little Richard came before, yet Elvis is commonly known as the King or original Rock n Roll artist. Hound Dog was originally by Willie Mae Thornton.

Hundreds more examples if you want to Google...

Lol at that pic for some reason the Wurzels popped into my head 😂

Had to be there I reckon.

And I mean I don't know but doesn't the hair go inside the hat? That's what I've seen. I'm not as convinced as others are that the chap on the left is an adherent to Rastafarian beliefs.

I also think that a bunch of Swiss people feeling uncomfy and saying erm not sure about this is interesting. I need more info but I mean yeah the photo made me lol 😁

Oh the white people play black music make fortune thing?stones are the obvious example surely

The Drifters first sand 'White Christmas' but most people have only ever heard it sung by (and attributed to) Bing Crosby.

Bing Crosby definitely sang it first. Recorded in the 1940s, before The Drifters were even formed.

This guy isn't a Viking though is he?

Dreadlocks have religious significance for Rastafarians.

So hair hat music.... And a bunch of Swiss people were hmmm not sure about this...

Had to be there I reckon.