Kudos Allan! As SL pointed out, your latest post did an excellent job of explaining what you intended to get across in your initial post, the one that twiddled my knobs a bit. I am always horrified at racist attitudes from people who cast aspersions on African-Americans. One thing that always struck me was how they were categorized as lazy and shiftless... in truth, the forefathers of this country (America) were the laziest group. They were the ones who sought out an avenue to have others build our railroads, clear our land, pick our crops and cotton... that's not capitalism. It IS racist, lazy, shiftless, and many other adjectives which could describe what went on. Thankfully, this great music is filled with people who respect and admire a determined continuation in the face of adversity that created this incredible music we share as our passion.
While I disagree with policies like that of Living Blues, fully explained by Doc Mojo elsewhere, that magazine gave birth to an interest in the music that still grows.
Another interesting sidenote was Alligator's early (unwritten?) policy to steer clear of white blues players. When the light dawned on marble head (years later), I believe the first two artists Iglauer signed were Johnny Winter and Roy Buchanan. While both have recorded some incredibly good music, neither one had (Buchanan) or has (Winter) a claim as the most convincing blues player (in my opinion).
Blueswriter