FW: [Dixielandjazz] Mixed race lineups, Chicago Style

Wed Jul 23 16:29:17 PDT 2003

on 7/22/03 2:53 PM, Stan Brager at sbrager at socal.rr.com wrote:

> The enforced desegregation of the 50's is surely transforming the US into a
> color blind society.

   Well, Stan, I agree that the younger people are getting better at it
all--my wife teaches in a grade school and in Junior High (called Middle
School), and the situation there is much as you describe.

   And color blindness was always the idea--for us who followed King's
ideal.  I grew up in segregated Texas (I'm 74) and saw some very bad stuff,
read Huckleberry Finn at age 12 and became highly conscious of white
attitude toward blacks, of its injustice.   I went on the join the NAACP in
college, then CORE after I became a college professor.  I attended sit-ins
and got arrested in 1960 trying to desegregate a local cafe so that both I
and any black student could sit down together and order coffee in Alton, IL,
the land of Lincoln.

Disillusion arose in the late 70s when it became apparent to me that black
people did not really want colorblindness AT ALL.  A few did?  Others may
have thought they did?  But at rule-making time it was always race card on
the table, black is beautiful, in yo face, whitey.  Many black ladies and
gentlemen have learned to deal with their own racism in a civilized manner;
but If you believe for one moment that every black person in this white
society doesn't see color first and all else later, then you are living
under a delusion. 

I very much hope that you are right and that these young mixed students now
in grade schools will continue to be as you describe them now, continue
being the kind of kids we all want them to be.   But it has been my
experience that kids invariably get older, and that as they do, voluntary
segregation begins to take hold: like likes like; and the college age black
kids invariably segregate themselves in the dining hall, in the dorms if
they are allowed to, and they usually are: black kids can do and say just
about any damned or blessed thing they want.

But the worst of the worst are the professional racists; and almost all of
them are black.   They are professional card sharps, and their cards are all
race cards.   They intend that the game continue, and they use all their
skill (which is considerable) to insure that the races remain suspicious of
each other at the least, hate each other at the most.  The Jesse Jacksons
carry on the tradition, not of Martin Luther King but of Stokely Carmichael
and H. Rapp Brown.  They raise the issue of reparations for slavery, not
because it is meritorious but because it separates the races; they propose a
slavery memorial on the Mall in DC ostensibly to "bring us together" when
the obvious result would be to enshrine the virtue of one race and the
perfidy of the other.   And, of course, once erected, it could never be
demolished, no matter what evil it did.

King had a dream that I could and did dream along with him.  Jackson & Co.
have a nightmare that I reject out of hand.

William Faulkner in Absolom! Absolom! expressed the hope that in time we
would all become just one race, a Heinz 57 Sauce of all the folks--which
isn't far at all from Dr. King.  I agree with you that "The work is not yet
complete but the direction is positive."  But blacks professionally
interested in racial strife are still working hard to reverse that
direction.

After all, without racial tension all those guys would have to find jobs.

best to you,
Charlie

----------
From: "Stan Brager" <sbrager at socal.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 12:53:04 -0700
To: "Charlie Hooks" <charliehooks at earthlink.net>, "DJML Dixieland Jazz"
<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Mixed race lineups, Chicago Style

Odd that you should say this. Unless you're talking about those people
regardless of race who have grown up with prejudice.

On the other hand, I've seen many instances in which today's youth feels
much less uncomfortable around people of differing races. In my son's high
school, there was a true melting pot of races. My son is friends with all
except those people who he doesn't like for strictly personal reasons and
not reasons of race. He works and participates with other students on
projects, on extracurricular activities, etc. I've never heard him or his
friends make a racist remark.

I see people in all races freely mingle at the gym where my wife and I work
out. And I see people of all races freely mingle in stores and shops as both
sales clerks and shoppers - there seems to be tolerance of race.

I see people of all races at parties.

The enforced desegregation of the 50's is surely transforming the US into a
color blind society.

The work is not yet complete but the direction is positive.

Stan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Hooks" <charliehooks at earthlink.net>
To: "DJML Dixieland Jazz" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Mixed race lineups, Chicago Style

> on 7/22/03 8:18 AM, Don Ingle at dingle at baldwin-net.com wrote:
>
> > To those that would have a problem with this, I can only say...GET OVER
> > IT!!
> > Don Ingle
>
>     You know, Don, I think the only people who would have a problem are
> younger black people.   Many of them are just completely different from
the
> older generation, causing ill-feeling needlessly, seeing problems where
none
> exist.  I often feel that they need conflict so they can in their turn
feel
> morally victorious as did their elders who had real problems and fought
real
> battles.
>
>     There are now very few impediments to black people who want to get
> ahead, and I see them as nostalgic for the tough times of their parents'
> lives when black folks had real obstacles and it really was "the white
> folks' fault"!   Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan and Bill Cosby can't
claim
> "po' li'l black folks jis' cain't make it nohow--white folks won't let
'em!"
> And I think this situation greatly disturbs many younger blacks.  "If I
> can't blame Whitey, I might have to blame myself!"
>
>     Men like Quinn Wilson, Roselle Claxton, Eddie Johnson, Joe Johnson,
> Jimmy Johnson, Truck Parham, Duke Groner--I could go on and on and so
could
> you--were all men who had been through the fire and had come out on the
> other side, still gentlemen, still playing.  These were all men I felt
close
> to; yet I do not now know a single black player under 50 that I can feel
> that way about.   I'm sure they are out there, but I haven't found any:
> which suggests that their numbers are few.
>
>     Another case of youth being wasted on the young...
>
> sadly,
> Charlie
>
>
>

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