Last night, I was with Mary J Blige and Nas after their show. We ended up having a little debate about who the top 10 R&B singers of all-time were, as Mary is routinely put in that discussion. Mary's list included Bill Withers. When she mentioned him, Nas and I looked at each other with a "WTF" expression, so Nas Googled him to see if his resume qualified anywhere close to being top 10.
In reading about him, he said that Withers was born and raised in West Virginia. I didn't realize that, so I read about him some more this morning. I knew he had two huge mega-hits with "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine," but I had forgotten that "Just the Two of Us" and "Lovely Day" were also huge hits for him. Some of his other songs ended up being sampled for huge modern day hits like "No Diggity" and some records for Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, and Dr. Dre.
Withers was born in Slab Rock and grew up in Beckley where his father died when Bill was 13. He joined the Navy, served for nine years, then moved to LA when he was 29. So he basically grew up where many of you did and had a similar upbringing in terms of geography, money, military, etc. What's interesting is how different his views on social issues are from many of you who had a very similar upbringing other than him being black.
In one article I read about him, he was extremely moved by Caitlyn Jenner's ESPY speech. In another, he discussed how he, along with other black men his age, thought Obama was crazy to think he could actually win the presidency in the United States referring to him as "naive." In another, the interviewer mentioned how Withers seems to still be bitter about the obstacles he faced growing up (being black, stuttering). Withers also referred to how he still gets stopped by police in his own neighborhood, because they don't think he fits in there and appears suspicious to them.
This is a guy who grew up with very blue collar roots and went on to become wealthy and still have a very comfortable life 40+ years after retiring, yet he still has bitterness about the things he faced.
The differences in social beliefs you guys have even though you had very similar upbringings reinforces my belief that you deplorables simply don't have the experience seeing first-hand what minorities go through in this country. You haven't truly spent significant time around blacks, gays, etc. to see the daily discrimination and obstacles they face, which is why so many of you claim that racism is overblown.
In reading about him, he said that Withers was born and raised in West Virginia. I didn't realize that, so I read about him some more this morning. I knew he had two huge mega-hits with "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine," but I had forgotten that "Just the Two of Us" and "Lovely Day" were also huge hits for him. Some of his other songs ended up being sampled for huge modern day hits like "No Diggity" and some records for Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, and Dr. Dre.
Withers was born in Slab Rock and grew up in Beckley where his father died when Bill was 13. He joined the Navy, served for nine years, then moved to LA when he was 29. So he basically grew up where many of you did and had a similar upbringing in terms of geography, money, military, etc. What's interesting is how different his views on social issues are from many of you who had a very similar upbringing other than him being black.
In one article I read about him, he was extremely moved by Caitlyn Jenner's ESPY speech. In another, he discussed how he, along with other black men his age, thought Obama was crazy to think he could actually win the presidency in the United States referring to him as "naive." In another, the interviewer mentioned how Withers seems to still be bitter about the obstacles he faced growing up (being black, stuttering). Withers also referred to how he still gets stopped by police in his own neighborhood, because they don't think he fits in there and appears suspicious to them.
This is a guy who grew up with very blue collar roots and went on to become wealthy and still have a very comfortable life 40+ years after retiring, yet he still has bitterness about the things he faced.
The differences in social beliefs you guys have even though you had very similar upbringings reinforces my belief that you deplorables simply don't have the experience seeing first-hand what minorities go through in this country. You haven't truly spent significant time around blacks, gays, etc. to see the daily discrimination and obstacles they face, which is why so many of you claim that racism is overblown.
