Why are there so few black people in classical music?

[usonian]

4. Please listen to programs by Lara Downes on KUSC from 8pm to 12 pm (Pacific)

Lara features works by African American composers and performers, sometimes performed by herself.

Sunday evenings, there’s a new program at KUSC with Lara Downes, Classical Americana
https://www.kusc.org/radio/programs/sunday-nights-classical-americana/

You can get KUSC streaming on the web at https://kusc.org, or via their app.

I also recommend (off topic a bit) Concierto, with Frank Dominguez, at WDAV (https://wdav.org) or via their app.

Concierto is a weekly program of classical music presented in Spanish and in English. The program features music by Latin American and Spanish composers and musicians. With Concierto, WDAV extends a welcoming hand to the fastest growing ethnic group in the Carolinas, while also seeking to introduce new listeners to the pleasures of classical music.

AND DON’T FORGET!
As an opera lover, I am wildly impressed by the number of Black singers. The list is too long to give here. I am sure you have heard of many. Being a bass, how about Paul Robeson, others?

And short answer is NEGLECT. Music by black and women composers was just ignored. Now that it is being given greater exposure, we can enjoy these great, neglected works. Did you know that Scott Joplin wrote an opera “Treemonisha”?

You can even get the vocal score at IMSLP: (public domain)

https://imslp.org/wiki/Treemonisha_(Joplin,_Scott)