Dvořák Was Sure ‘Negro Melodies’ Would Be The Foundation Of American Classical Music. Why Did It Remain So White?

There was a point at which a number of African-American composers were writing serious, important work, writes Joseph Horowitz. “Racial prejudice, personal and institutional, obviously inhibited the potential success of a Dett, Dawson, Still, or Price. But a subtler prejudice was aesthetic.” – The American Scholar