Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of pop music?

David Hatch states "pop music has relied on the merging of both black and white traditions" and is further backed by Barry Shank, who proposes "Rock and Roll came about from white people’s fascination with black music." The music industry recognised the benefit of such mergers; with one of history’s most successful artists Elvis Presley being the quintessential mix, making the combination commercially successful.

I deem the concept of ‘blackness’ and ‘whiteness’ can provide limited insight into the origins of pop music, though supplementary factors have significant influence; including prejudiced by class, legacy and cultural backdrop; common factors everyone has in common, regardless of skin colour or ethnicity.

As a final point; I believe that ‘blackness’ and ‘whiteness’ as individual concepts do not exist as separate genres, though as individual artists or majority consumers it is possible (questioning ones definition of what black/white music is), these concepts simply provide a starting point for further exploration.