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As little as ten years ago, an anti-racism policy was probably issued by an organization to say that any person of any race, ethnicity, or religion was welcome. I’m not sure that’s the case today. As hate groups appear to be coming out of the woodwork and in so many cases are making their points of view public and in some cases gaining support, anti-racism policies are more a way of saying to hate groups “we do not stand with you.”

I’m sorry that you don’t understand this goes beyond the Bluecoats and they’re at least making an effort to start to chip away at something so ingrained in our society. I think your comment proves my point.

If Jim wasn’t banned on here, he’d back me up on this story. As recently as 2019, we were talking to people at a show and they asked where I marched. I told them and they said “oh Guardsmen had a great guard”. I said yes, we did but I was horn player. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard that. I could throw a mellophone in any direction at a drum corps show and hit a misogynist.

You would also think that sexual harassment and verbal abuse would be something not a part of a character-builder youth activity, but you would be 100% wrong there, wouldn’t ya?

When I marched in Royal-Airs reunion corps, who were very welcoming to distaff members btw, I heard some great stories. One Cavalier alumnus told me how Mr. Warren went to the juvenile detention center to recruit color guard members. I also heard soooo many stories from original RA alums of how they were street kids and were headed for jail. Sie gave them a job at his flatlots in Chicago, got them in the drum corps, and more than once I was told that he saved their lives. I am a good listener and I loved their stories. I learned a lot.

This... Really Bluecoats? More SJW pandering to bubble world? So, they are addressing other peoples/organizations/societies racism, but aren't racist but are putting "words" in place for something they are party to or of. I mean, fine I suppose? Here, try this, ACTIONS. After COVID there is so much opportunity to do something. Change the activity and atmosphere you helped create? Start a cadet corp or two? Revive local drum corps? Donate your 1 year used instruments/instruments to those new units? Forgo that extra marimba, semi prop truck to make dues affordable or fund these new feeder corps? When is the last time you supported a black artists music? I mean the list goes on and on, but the really awful part is that the elites don't want drum corps or the activity changed at all. Drum corps use to serve for disadvantaged youth as something to do and participate in. Now, it's an elitist activity. Sure the kids/young adults are great. Kids you are talking about or your "words" are pointed at are working jobs to put food on the table and roof over their heads. You know "survival". So when I see this kind pandering and dare I say snobbish introversion I just roll my eyes at "words". Ya, I'm sure you feel good, but the reality is ACTIONS require change in attitude and the activity. So, what's more important that extra prop truck, new everything every year or perhaps investing into something you "talk" about. Seriously, if people did HALF of what they think or say this would be a non issue. Being frank it's just "words" unless something happens. Ya, glass half full today. Sorry. Off soapbox....

Terri, I'm sorry you experienced that. I know that it's common. I wish it were different. You come across as a person in charge of your destiny. While the world and society are unfair still in so many ways, you know what you want and deserve. This will serve you well. One final note, please do not "throw in the towel" on here. While we see commentary that can challenge and even shock us, we also see change.

Unfortunately, racism is still an issue in the drum corps activity. The Bluecoats are willing to address that fact openly and set corps policy to specifically address the issue within their organization. While you may not feel this is necessary, current events have shown otherwise, as well as the experiences of drum corps members. It is those members, past, current, and future, who may appreciate a World Class drum corps working to ensure the activity is welcoming to them, starting with their own organization. Back in June, the Bluecoats Brass Podcast posted an episode entitled “The Black Experience in DCI”, interviewing members and staff who have directly experienced racism in the activity. You can listen to the episode here. The Dear Dotbook podcast has also looked at racism in the activity in a few of its episodes: Black Women in the Marching Arts Black Men in Drum Corps Science, Ethnicity, Gender, and Band Sikhism and the Marching Arts

Most of the people I've spoken to who question the need for racism policies, have never experienced racism.

An important and exciting step for the Bluecoats. Now comes the hard part - introspection on questions like why the Bluecoats and drum corps in general doesn't reflect the diversity of the greater community; what would need to happen for the the pathway to the Bluecoats Experience to be truly accessible to students from underserved and less-resourced communities; how do we select students, what are the standards we use, and are we willing to adopt measures that level the playing field even if they require us to redefine organizational success; are we striving for equal or equitable treatment of all members of the Bluecoats family? When it starts to hurt you personally...when you start to recoil a bit because you see that the changes that are needed will fundamentally change some of the things you love about the Bluecoats...that's when you know you're doing the deep work. Many organizations that start down this path don't have the intestinal fortitude to stay with it until they get to real shifts in thinking and values that result in real changes that lead to real inclusion. I'm excited and a bit scared for the Bluecoats. They've really put themselves out there, and done right, this will be a huge undertaking. It's clear they intend this work to be much deeper and more meaningful than just a policy and statement. I'll be cheering them on.

I laugh hard at the rich kids characterization. So not the case. I rode on charter buses in Norwood Park and school buses in Guardsmen. In Texas in August.

Greg asks a poignant question: (You gonna talk smack to Ralph Hardimon?) Answer: Er, no, I don't think so. But I think it might be very interesting to get Ralph's take on whether (or to what degree) racism existed in drum corps during that period. Full disclosure: he was my room-mate for several years, and Best Man at my wedding.

Percentage wise we had about as many Blacks as the general population. We treated each other with respect and race just wasn't a big deal (You gonna talk smack to Ralph Hardimon?) I'm sure "racism" must have occurred in some form, but I didn't notice it. What I did notice was "sexism." We had a Director (NOT Don Porter) who would not allow overweight women in the guard. If you were an overweight male it wasn't an issue whatsoever.

Waliman's comment really hit home for me: "Okay, so the funny part was learning what these words meant and how to use them in the "dozens"..bonding happened with mutual cursing out sessions." I was 14, living in a neighborhood full of Ozzie & Harriettes and Beaver Cleavers. There was exactly one Black student in my 8th Grade class at Sacred Heart School, and she had arrived halfway through the term. The neighboring parish, St. Catherine's, sponsored the NY State Champion and nationally prominent Queensmen, and that town had been fully integrated since WWII, largely because it was the location of the St. Albans Naval Hospital. I joined the corps in my freshman year of High School. It was close to 50% Black. Xavier was a military school and I sometimes had to come to rehearsal straight from class, in uniform. My hair was short. I was a round-faced red-cheeked kid, just ripe for "the dozens". It was a rite of passage, of course, and I soon came to realize I had been accepted when somebody called me a "scrub-face, pointy-head, Christmas ornament-looking mother..." Of course, one was expected to have a come-back, like "Who you talkin' to, you snake-face, ball peen hammer-head, bubbly-eyed swamp sucker?" If you seek cultural exchange you must learn new languages and concepts.

Thank you! I remember back when the subject on here was Bluecoats offering scholarships to HBCU students. There were people getting all offended that the scholarship wasn’t open to all. Their whining prompted me to go back and increase my donation.

Never 'out of the loop'; trains, planes, & automobiles! (And FloMarching?) #MarchOn

If you BEAT BD you are champs. You can beat Crown and SCV and Coats but still come behind BD. But they all know it's BD you have to beat and you are champs.

Bluecoats also FREQUENTLY program works by POC 2018: Home (from Congo Square) by Wynton Marsalis / God Bless the Child by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. 2016: Todo Tiende by Marina Abad, Javier Martin, Sergio Ramos, Xavier Turull, and Maxwell Wright (Ojos de Brujo) 2014: Uffe's Woodshop by Tyondai Braxton / to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem by Andy Akiho / The Hymn of Acxiom by Vienna Teng / Platinum Rows by Tyondai Braxton (That's the entire show, by the way) 2009: Children's Hour of Dream by Charles Mingus, Haitian Fight Song by Charles Mingus I could go on, but you get the idea.

Do you mean something like this? Or maybe their new feeder SoundSport organization Rhythm in Blue? Or maybe like the Enrichment Drumline they partner with? "The ENRICHment Drumline is operated by ENRICHment of Stark County, a local agency that provides free music & art education to under-resourced youth. This partnership brings resources to the drumline including equipment and instruction." Or how about the MANY other youth opportunities they offer outside of the drum corps? https://bluecoats.com/learning

I know right lol. Well..... i'm sure it'll be anything else but.. Tune in tomorrow and you'll find out, like my curious self here.

A new & improved System Blue line of drums?

Or some sort of K-thing

Though I also kind of wish they had stuck their horns up their keisters.

Ding ding ding we have a winnah!

I'm glad you weren't daunted.....

You might think that happened in the early ‘70’s... Nope. It was 1999. If I had it to do over again, I would have told those people to stuff their horn up their keisters and left. I would now, anyway. But, I wanted to play so I ate some 💩.

well that should make the virtual Januals interesting

I believe that question should be directed to thousands upon thousands of organizations and not just a singular drum corps from Canton, Ohio. No, not the Tuesday part, but the need to define an intolerance to racism within their mandate.

Examples please! Just because someone said so doesn’t make it so. If I recall correctly drum corps had greater black participation in the 60’s and 70’s. Is racism responsible for all black organizations folding and far less black participation today? Share with us how and when this became an issue, and how this will be addressed to increase participation. If anything DCI has created a socio economic strata that prevents a lot of people from participation. Please no virtue signaling.

You're telling me to "stop reacting so emotionally" while at the same time advocating for the disbandment of the Troopers..............? I think should take your own advice. If the current Director (a female) isn't "protecting" her members from sexual assault and/or sweeping it under the rug then DCI or, better yet, law enforcement should investigate. Has that happened? Has DCI looked into this? Have any criminal charges, or civil suits been filed? What about an outside third-party investigative firm (not some pseudo official sounding wannabe website)? Can DCI force the Troopers to do that and report back their findings? Have you ruled out the possibility a 501c3 youth based organization just doesn't know how and has not been properly trained how to deal with internal sexual assault accusations? Not that that's an excuse, but even large corporations can handle these issues in a ham-handed way. Many things can be done before glib talk of disbandment of one of Drum Corps iconic members. The organization is owed that. If not, and the cancel-first-ask-questions-later attitude prevails, soon there won't be any Drum Corps left. COVID-19 notwithstanding.

Thanks for the drive by Terri. Be safe in your hibernation and hopefully we'll "see" you in the Spring.

In drum corps? Absolutely not. Can't speak for anyone else though. Every drum corps I marched in has been a relatively great experience. Outside of drum corps though, I can say I have experienced it a few times in my life, although not recently. Great to be back! Took a hiatus because my White House job was killing me. But I left last week and I'm excited to retire from the military very soon!

Given that racism seems to be running rampant all over this country, it shouldn't be a surprise that they're fortifying the idea that it's not going to be tolerated.

Why do you feel the need for mockery?

Take your own advice.

👍LOVE IT!!

I haven’t been over here for a while but lo and behold, I come over and see this. I was a volunteer for DCM championships for a few years and one of the joys of my volunteer work for them, was seeing the Joliet Kingsmen every year. A small corps from East Joliet. A corps that I believe truly saved lives. It warmed my heart see to see the faces of those kids when they’d perform and then later, watch the “big corps”. What a wonderful experience for them. Then, what wasn’t so heartwarming, was watching them crushed under the wheels of the DCI money-making machine when they absorbed DCM and performance opportunities were gone for them and other groups like them. I ranted about this on RAMD decades ago and it fell upon deaf ears. No surprise there. Actions speak louder than press releases. I’ve distanced myself from the activity since the Covid pandemic. I’ve had time to think about what’s really important and after reading, yet again, about more abuses of members, I don’t know if I have the stomach for this anymore. BTW, Roman. If you’re reading this....I let those Kingsmen parents in for free at my gate. Bwahaha I’m done. Carry on.

It is not that hard. Drum corps reflect the constituencies from which they recruit. Once upon a time, drum corps recruited locally, and they reflected the composition of their local communities. But not anymore. Not even the pandemic will cause a return to more local membership. Today, DCI drum corps recruit almost entirely from the membership/alumni of highly competitive USA marching bands. That focus only narrows among top corps, who increasingly utilize the subset of such young adults who have further experience with other corps. Since those are the people with the opportunities, talent, and work ethic to excel, you cannot have a top corps without them. If you want top corps to "reflect the diversity of the greater community", you need the arena of highly competitive marching bands to reflect the diversity of the greater community. How do you do that when those bands are overwhelmingly from affluent suburbs, and we institutionalize that profile by continually making these activities more and more expensive? Introspection is not hard. Action is the hard part.

This Guardsman has all the right stuff: https://www.today.com/parents/national-guard-member-teaches-kids-while-guarding-capitol-t206013

I had no idea. Just reading the comments on their FB page, there's clearly not much respect for the (fairly) new corps director. Not making an excuse for their leadership or lack thereof, but it's hard to follow a legend when it comes to directors, coaches, pastors, etc. Wow...

Interesting question. In my own reading of the documents, the sexual misconduct allegation is the main issue that would have a potential legal impact. I am not an attorney, so that is just my take. As for the rest...a lot of it reads as griping by members who were disenchanted with their marching experience. That can happen to anybody for many reasons. For the Troopers, it seems like a "Have you stopped beating your wife" kind of thing. How do they answer griping without giving it credence...really, why would they even try. I don't have the negative feeling about their response others seem to have.

Our horn sargeant had a career-ending hip injury while we were learning drill. Their replacement fell and destroyed their knee. It's only two members, but losing two very experienced leaders, who could help set the tone and culture of the horn line before the season even started was a big blow. Our facilities were poor, just random high schools with chewed-up grass. The rumored (moving) prop arrived, looking ungainly, and immediately needing to be fixed and modified, which continued all season. Our first show, with only 3 movements on the field (no closer), we got an inauspicious 58, 7 full points under the next corps. Everything seemed like a big struggle, the music and drill were very demanding, and it seemed like we weren't making progress. All through the first part of tour, in Toledo and Evansville and Normal etc. - the old Drum Corps Midwest circuit - we seemed to be languishing. In the fifth show of the season, Rockford, we still were stuck at 58 and behind Pioneer in brass. Corps which we had easily beaten in 2004, like Colts and Soutwind, were ahead of us. But it was off the field that things were really bad. It wasn't uncommon for the director to drive the equipment truck semi in a pinch, because we had trouble getting drivers. Our buses were from the early 80s. It was cold (upper midwest in June) and rainy. The overall mood of the corps, from members and staff both, was increasingly frustrated. Things like guard uniforms were long overdue and we were still waiting for them. When they finally came, the director had a fight with the staff over them being "too provocative." In my section specifically (tuba), we didn't have a good visual tech and there were constant attitude issues, people quitting, poor rehearsal technique, not memorizing music, not doing dotbooks, and more season-ending injuries. Inter-section bad blood escalated, as the drumline felt they were "carrying the corps" and the horns/guard weren't working hard enough. Instructors were borrowing money from food truck volunteers because they hadn't been paid. It all kinda came to a head in Ohio around the second week of July. We had a free day at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, but did a little bit of work in the parking lot beforehand. Guard did a technique block, then the guard staff told the guard that they were quitting, got into a friends' car and drove away. One of our trumpets quit because he was being abused by members of the drumline for being overweight. And finally, one of our techs was caught stealing prescription medications from one of the members and locked out of the housing site and sent home (my mom told me later that during pre-season she saw him spiking his fruit drink with vodka before ensemble). The Prop had to be wheeled around, within the drill, by two people in color guard costumes. There were constant problems, people getting run over, etc. No one knew what the giant metal thing was supposed to be or represent. Eventually, a black and silver cloth (which my mom sewed) was added, ideally to make it look like an actual sundial arm, but it just looked like a shark fin. Then, they decided that "icons" showing sunrise, the moon, etc. should also be put on its side to tell the judges what was going on (and tried to guilt my mom into paying for the professional printing). Other memorable fails include: a "design consultant" showing up for one day of tour and wasting the entire visual block trying to add a weird one-count turn to the opener the day of the San Antonio regional; one of our mellophone players just disappearing, never to be seen again, after music block; and being fed cheese and crackers for lunch. One of our euphoniums fell in the shower and broke his shoulder. Our uniforms were never altered, so they got insanely baggy. After SA, we were pretty despondent, being behind Southwind, Cascades, Mandarins, and Colts, and not far above Magic, who were having their own meltdowns. The design staff thought the solution was to add a tag soft ending, representing return to night, and we got as far as handing out the drill sheets before the instructional staff revolted--We couldn't perform what we had as it was! A few days later we had a full-corps "come to Jesus" because everyone was just tired, irritated, and going through the motions. Eventually, "the process" actually did work -- our show was very hard (Bocook and Sacktig, remember) so in the end of the season, when we started to be able to perform it, we came up and finished 15th - one place lower than 2004, but it could have been much worse. Quarterfinals was miserable, a flat show after 1) a kid in my section said something racist to one of our baritone players and started a fight 2) we warmed up and walked to the stadium without any water. Semifinals was better. After our last performance, one of our visual staff said straight out "If you can survive this, you can march anywhere," encouraging us NOT to stay with Capital Regiment. We ended up 13th overall in brass, because Derek Gipson is good. It was a long, frustrating season, but socially the best one for me, as I became close to group of people around me on the bus and we formed our own tight little club to vent our frustration and cope with the BS through humor. I am still in touch with most of them. At finals, my friends and I watched from the upper deck with my mom, and I went down to the lower level to catch Cadets' victory run, knowing that I wanted to be one of them.

There's my problem - I don't own a hoodie

You have to close the blinds, wear a hoodie, & search the 'dark web'; or Reddit. I have no clue. 😇

We lost a great composer/arranger this past Sunday. I continue to play his arrangements to this day with the "Loudoun Jazz Ensemble" here in Virginia. I look forward to our next rehearsals/gigs where we will continue to keep his music alive for generations to come. RIP Sammy Paul W. "Da Bass Bone" Sammy Nestico, 'the Rolls Royce of composers and arrangers' in big-band jazz, dies at 96 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

No, I haven’t. But, I have experienced seriously blatant sexism on an epic level throughout my life. One incident being I tried to join one drum corps that actually debated right in front of me if I should be admitted because I’m a woman.

you are. America as it stands proves that. I just watched a Cadets alumnus chased off of Facebook for openly supporting the chaos on 1/6 and ranting how mad they were they couldn't be there to join, along with dozens of racial and sexual slurs and insults over the last few years