Interesting Comment from Hop

[Morgoth Bauglir]

From how I read the article, if the majority is white, it's a bad thing. If it's majority is black, no problems.

Typical.

[ironlips]

Talk about hot button issues.

I would like to respectfully suggest that one can not bring diversity to drum corps. One must bring drum corps to places where diversity exists. That would be urban America.

A "rainbow coalition" of folks marched around Oakland a couple of weeks ago, in protest to recent violence. "We won't tolerate this anymore!" was the prevailing sentiment. Then they all went home with their signs and t-shirts and locked the door.

What they should have done was start a drum corps with the little kids in the neighborhood. By the time those tykes become pre-teens they will have had a few years of learning how to cooperate. It worked in Brooklyn, St. Albans, Newark and a lot of other pretty tough towns, and it would work again.

[Ace Holleran]

The average horn player back in my day wasn't a true musician. H/she knew only how to play the parts. Drummers couldn't read. Put them on a kit and they would play a streetbeat.

Today's DCI players know how to read; they have some grounding in theory. The better ones are consummate players.

This type of education, nowadays, comes only from school systems.

Most urban areas I know of barely have music programs, if at all.

I think that's why drum corps is primarily white. I bemoan this but don't know how to fix it.

I also dislike the "showband" milieu, as portrayed in "Drumline." I think these players are getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop, because the overall quality is so poor, IMHO. I partially blame the educators for this.

But, this fall, I emceed a HS band show and was amazed, for the most part, at the talent levels I saw. Ergo, somebody is doing the right thing. It's just not happening in our inner cities.

Okay, I'm done.

[MikeD]

Talk about hot button issues.

I would like to respectfully suggest that one can not bring diversity to drum corps. One must bring drum corps to places where diversity exists. That would be urban America.

A "rainbow coalition" of folks marched around Oakland a couple of weeks ago, in protest to recent violence. "We won't tolerate this anymore!" was the prevailing sentiment. Then they all went home with their signs and t-shirts and locked the door.

What they should have done was start a drum corps with the little kids in the neighborhood. By the time those tykes become pre-teens they will have had a few years of learning how to cooperate. It worked in Brooklyn, St. Albans, Newark and a lot of other pretty tough towns, and it would work again.

Frank,

IMO the parents should be lobbying their boards of ed to fund their school music programs as opposed to trying to start a drum corps these days. Public funds should be used to provide a broad array of educational experiences in the schools, including music and the arts in general. You get kids to love those types of subjects and more may stick around and get a full education, in spite of themselves. If I had to focus on one area, it's the school systems first IMO.

[JimF-LowBari]

IMO the parents should be lobbying their boards of ed to fund their school music programs as opposed to trying to start a drum corps these days. Public funds should be used to provide a broad array of educational experiences in the schools, including music and the arts in general. You get kids to love those types of subjects and more may stick around and get a full education, in spite of themselves. If I had to focus on one area, it's the school systems first IMO.

Harrisburg city schools have some arts funding but not sure how much. At least the HS has a Marching Band and other musical outlets. Problem is the district has so many other problems, both internal and external, that providing more $$$ to arts would take away from more basic areas.

Edit: Notice I said MORE $$$ to arts....

To put it another way, it would be like putting fresh paint on rotting wood. Looks good on the outside but the $$$ could have been put to better use. And if the family life of the student is crap lot of thimes there is only so much schools or the arts can do. IMO, more one on one time is needed with these kids instead of ye olde "if we spend money, then our conscience is clear".

Edited April 3, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari

[SF2K4]

I'd like to think corps in DCI aren't turning away members based on race... therefore, I assume the lack of minorities, namely black Americans, is due to:

1. Financial Situations

2. Lack of music schooling

3. Lack of Interest

We've been harping on the first for a while, saying that sooner or later DCI will turn into a kind of "Country Club" kind of activity where only the rich may partake. Lack of music schooling, or good schooling in general, is just one of those things that the entire country needs to fix; it's not DCI's fault. Lastly, lack of interest is just that. Sometimes some groups just won't want to do something and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't think you should change your image or what you do just to attract a group of people that wasn't interested before when you do have a good base of people that ARE interested. The chance of alienating the people you already have to attain people that are only not with it because it disinterests them, to me, seems like a bad idea. The blacks that are in drum corps are not blacks that had the above 3... no, they are simply PEOPLE who have the DESIRE to do an activity like this. Why are there no more blacks in drum corps? Personally, I think, the way society has developed, it's just not an activity that appeals to as many blacks as it does whites. That's all.

[Ex VK DM]

Harrisburg city schools have some arts funding but not sure how much. At least the HS has a Marching Band and other musical outlets. Problem is the district has so many other problems, both internal and external, that providing more $$$ to arts would take away from more basic areas.

To put it another way, it would be like putting fresh paint on rotting wood. Looks good on the outside but the $$$ could have been put to better use. And if the family life of the student is crap lot of thimes there is only so much schools or the arts can do. IMO, more one on one time is needed with these kids instead of ye olde "if we spend money, then our conscience is clear".

Funny, if not for the Harrisburg S.D. music program, I would not have accomplished all that I have.

[MikeD]

Harrisburg city schools have some arts funding but not sure how much. At least the HS has a Marching Band and other musical outlets. Problem is the district has so many other problems, both internal and external, that providing more $$$ to arts would take away from more basic areas.

To put it another way, it would be like putting fresh paint on rotting wood. Looks good on the outside but the $$$ could have been put to better use. And if the family life of the student is crap lot of thimes there is only so much schools or the arts can do. IMO, more one on one time is needed with these kids instead of ye olde "if we spend money, then our conscience is clear".

$$$ is always the issue, but it doesn't mean that parents should not lobby for those things. Thinking of them as optional and not part of a thorough and complete education is, IMO, a mistake.

[JimF-LowBari]

Funny, if not for the Harrisburg S.D. music program, I would not have accomplished all that I have.

And this just reminded me that my private trombone teacher in the early 70s was the Harrisburg HS band director trying to make ends meet.

Maybe it's a Central PA thing but I don't know of any SDs in the area that have totally cut out arts programs. Districts may be having funding problems but removing arts never seems to be an option to balance the books.

Edit: In case you didn't know, the city of Harrisburg took over the operation of the SD a few years ago. Forget what new law allowed that but things appeared so bad that the city went to court and took over the reins.

Edited April 3, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari

[JimF-LowBari]

$$$ is always the issue, but it doesn't mean that parents should not lobby for those things. Thinking of them as optional and not part of a thorough and complete education is, IMO, a mistake.

Well just so people know where my thoughts are coming from, I have two extended family members who work with kids who need extra help. One is a trained Reading Recovery teacher who works with early elementary students who are in the first stages of learning to read. Idea is to head off problems before the kids go too far and get too far behind. Problem is RR takes a high cost per student and that makes it a target in tight budget times. Two board members consider it an "option" also because of the cost ratio and one has gone on record saying "If the kids are dumb why keep spending on them?". (Intelligence does not always factor into reading problems.)

In this case it's not a question of giving these kids a complete education, it's providing a basic education. It's a rural SD but pretty sure the tax base only goes so far. In fact there have been rumblings about combining SDs in the area because some areas are no tbeing provided fully.

Of course the biggest reason why people are on school boards in my area is because they got more votes that someone else.

Oh yeah, other person in education deals with Junior High aged kids.... who have their own Parole Officer.

Edited April 3, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari