Black-White Relations

Name: Candace Rembert

For this assignment you will be creating a short (approximately 500 words) reaction essay based upon two sources: 1)Choose one of the three interviews from the Charley Gerard reading, Racial Identity and Three Lives, from Jazz in Black and White, 1998. 2) Read A Statement about Making Music in the World, http://www.billbanfield.com/world-according-to-bill.html I agree with everything John Loehrke said in his interview. I cannot speak from experience since I was not around during the 70s, but I can only imagine that things were more docile and friendly because of the civil rights movement being so recent. It was almost as if whites were scared to do anything that would seem too racist for fear of a revolt, considering there were groups like the Black Panthers and other originations that prided themselves on being 100% black. Now, however, society is truly starting to treat blacks as equals and that doesnt settle well with some people, making racism even worse than it was. I believe that people back then had a place, and now days some racist people indirectly think that blacks have lost their place. In other words, blacks have begun to become too equal. When Loehrke talked about a black violinist in the Baltimore Symphony, that struck a chord in me. Too many times have I found myself in that exact same position. The look that you get when you finally come in for a live audition that says, Youre a very fine musician, but youre black and that doesnt fit in our orchestra. Sometimes it feels as if it doesnt matter how talented or prepared you are, you can never be 100% equal because of the color of your skin. When Loerke told his violinist friend that he should audition for the New York Philharmonic and. His friends response was Oh, no, I would never even bother. When Loerke asked him why not? His friend simply pulled the skin on his cheeks. I remember a very similar conversation I had with a good friend of mine. She told me that I should audition for this position in a local

orchestra, and my response was very similar to Loerkes friend. I also agree with Loerke when he said that the same thing happens in jazz. While some orchstras say we dont want no niggers in this orchestra. Many jazz bands might say we dont want no whites in this band. I know this was not mentioned in the interview, but now days people always want to say how color blind they are. In my opinion, being color blind is just as damaging as being racist. When one says he/she is color blind, that is ignoring the race/identity of a person. People should be able to recognize the color of another persons skin and still be able to treat them the same as everyone else.