Inside the Arc – “The Gods Must Be Crazy”

| |

Big G:
“Behold, you are all my peeps. Now go forth and get along with each other.”

Crazy G 1:
“But they are all different. You can’t expect that.”

Big G:
“Actually, I can. I Am Who Am, after all. Besides, they are all the same, in essence. They’ll figure it out.”

Crazy G 2:
“I don’t know. They have issues.”

Big G:
“Well, I do know. (See “Who Am”, above). Besides, I have given them guidance, you know, like the one about casting “the first stone”, “judge not”…etc.”

Crazy G 2:
“Sure, sure, but they don’t read so well anymore. They need reinforcement.”

Big G:
“That’s why I made Jefferson, among others. Check it out: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; …etc.”

Crazy G 1:
“But that’s just an opinion.”

Big G:
“No. It’s a mission statement.”

Crazy G 1:
“But shouldn’t they have the right to avoid people they don’t like?”

Big G:
“Sure, but not the right to deny those people the unalienable rights with which I have endowed everyone. If you don’t like people with green eyes, don’t hang out with them. But if you are selling ice cream cones to the public, you can’t refuse to serve them on those grounds.”

Crazy G 2:
“There are people who would not agree with you.”

Big G:
“Though they may claim to be, they are not my people.”

Crazy G 2:
“So whose people are they?”

Big G:
“The other guy’s. The one’s who think their god tells them it’s ok to hurt other people in his name. Nope, not my people.”

Crazy G 2:
“You mean…?”

Big G:
“Yeah, him.”

Crazy G 1:
“So why do you let him exist?”

Big G:
“So the people can learn to choose to do the right thing, like Spike Lee.”

Crazy G 2:
“You think they will?”

Big G:
“Absolutely…in time.”

 

DCI Retreat

DCI Retreat

Drum Corps is no stranger to bigotry. There was a time when black people were specifically excluded from some very prominent corps that still exist today. In the late ’50s there was an all-girls corps that was probably the best in the country, but was not permitted to earn the National Title.

More recently, in the ’80s, there developed a strong and very visible push back from ultra-conservative elements against their perceived “gay bias” in DCI judging and instruction. Some of these folks even had enough temerity to wear T shirts emblazoned with the slogan “DCI is Gay” at contests.

Ultimately, these people lost those battles, as they have lost this one. Drum Corps is egalitarian and everyone knows it.

Go to DCI in Indy, and when they ask you to stand up to show support for inclusion and diversity in Drum Corps, jump to your feet, raise your hand high and shout, “I am Spartacus!”

The Drum Corps gods will be pleased.

 

About the Author:
Frank Dorritie is one of the legends of the activity .... a performer, instructor, arranger, adjudicator, and observer over the past 5 decades. Frank has been playing the bugle and trumpet since the 1960s, and has performed with artists like Billy Cobham and Maynard Ferguson. He has instructed and/or arranged for the Blue Devils, Cadets, Santa Clara Vanguard, Cavaliers, Chesterton and Tenri High Schools, the Bushwackers, Bridgemen and a host of others. His audio production honors include 9 Grammy Nominations, 2 Grammy Awards and membership in both the World Drum Corps and Buglers Halls of Fame. He is active internationally as a clinician and adjudicator, holds the DCA Soprano/Trumpet/Tenor Individual titles for 2003, 2005 and 2006. Frank also chairs the Department of Recording Arts at Los Medanos College. His popular brass method book, “Power and Endurance”, is available from Xtremebrass.com. The opinions expressed in this column are strictly those of the author.

Posted by on Sunday, March 29th, 2015. Filed under Inside the Arc.