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Cadets Establish Equality And Inclusion Committee


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23 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

So, since we don’t have recaps, or hidden recaps, or slotting issues, we are reduced to arguing about cartoons? Is it June, 202x yet?

By what would be finals week we’ll be arguing without anyone saying anything first.... 🤯

For us Sr/All Age and alumni type people, we made it through Memorial Day (for the old timers) and 4th of July. But Labor Day weekend gonna be a bugger

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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8 hours ago, George Dixon said:

Let’s face it, real discussion and honest debate is really limited in today’s environment 

as a supporter of the cadets I’m delighted they are taking the topic of discrimination seriously 

let’s not morph that into quotas that stack the odds against the most talented applicants


the activist is extremely white and I think we fix that mostly by returning an actual regional touring model 

i don't think the regional model solves that. we get the kids from the suburbs now. inner city schools which are more minority have barely functioning music programs because thats the first thing cut. going regional is not going to suddenly lead to CYO or churches or PAL or AL or VFW creating corps/

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5 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

So, since we don’t have recaps, or hidden recaps, or slotting issues, we are reduced to arguing about cartoons? Is it June, 202x yet?

it's the weekend. give it time

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On 7/7/2020 at 7:41 PM, skevinp said:

This makes me sad to read.  Not only that you were deprived of knowing them but also that they were deprived of knowing you.  I hope you were able to march somewhere that was a good experience.  

I support all genuine and sincere efforts to make drum corps a more welcoming place for everyone, regardless of race, gender, identify, orientation, religion, well-intentioned ideology, class, citizenship, or place of residence.  I believe that most people are basically good and that most people will do the right thing upon having the opportunity to work with and learn about others who may be different from them in all kinds of ways.

I appreciate that and I wouldn't have offered up my experience had there not be people who I don't think understand why this is so important.  I did, in fact, go on to march elsewhere (with a corps that beat Cadets at DCI, no less).  It's all good now, but I do remember how I felt at the time.  

I totally agree with you that most people are good.  I've also learned since then that people run their mouths more on the internet than in person (sorry, y'all!) and it's easier to be a "tough guy" when hiding behind a computer.  I've also learned how to be tougher in my own experiences.  

The Cadets are still one of my favorite corps.  Hopefully this initiative will allow them to be so for future marchers!  BTW, I've sent kids I teach to Cadets and will continue to do so as I truly believe it is a great organization (even more so now!)

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38 minutes ago, NewToPosting said:

 I've also learned since then that people run their mouths more on the internet than in person (sorry, y'all!) and it's easier to be a "tough guy" when hiding behind a computer.  I've also

Fact check.......................TRUE

I read your experience a few pages back.  Glad you pushed through and marched in Drum Corps.  

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First of all, the statement posted by the Cadets refers to "changes that will create a Cadets organization that is more diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist". This goes beyond racism and is an attempt to address many discrimination issues.

https://cadets.org/the-cadets-establish-equality-and-inclusion-committee/

Second, the Cadets are not the first organization to make an announcement of this type. Just one year ago this month, the Madison Scouts made the announcement they were adopting an "inclusive membership policy", essentially opening corps membership to ALL genders, including women, trans, and non-binary members.

http://www.madisonscouts.org/2019/07/madison-scouts-adopt-inclusive-membership-policy/

The Scouts organization also made an equally important announcement at the beginning of June, affirming their commitment to the Black Lives Matter movement and specific steps they were taking, similar to what the Cadets alluded to in their announcement earlier this month.

http://www.madisonscouts.org/2020/06/our-commitment-to-the-black-lives-matter-movement/

Whether announcements like these from the Cadets, Scouts, and other marching arts organizations are simply "virtue signaling", as some have suggested, will depend on what actions take place as a result. If NOTHING changes, then, yes, all we have seen so far is virtue signaling. Considering the Cadets announcement is just a week old, it is way too soon to judge.

Action is necessary, however. Sexual harassment and assault is still a major issue the activity has not fully addressed, and not just by the Cadets. Recall that Tricia Nadolny, the reporter who broke the George Hopkins story, assisted by very brave survivors of his assaults, also reported on similar issues taking place at the Oregon Crusaders. Issues which, when left unaddressed outside of ACTUAL virtue signaling by the OC admins, led to the staff resigning from the corps en masse after the 2018 season in protest. The Crusaders may never take the field again as a result. Until real change occurs, they should not as membership safety is definitely questionable in that environment.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/drum-corp-international-sexual-assault-misconduct-mike-stevens-george-hopkins-cadets-20181213.html

Speaking of Tricia Nadolny, she also broke the story on Roman Blenski's actions at Pioneer. Blenski not only endangered the membership ("snitches get stitches") but also racially insulted the Mexican and South African members of the corps. 

https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/drum-bugle-corps-pioneer-cadets-george-hopkins-drum-corps-international-dci-20180823.html

As for the Cadets, somebody early in this thread mentioned Sara Bowden, a trans non-binary member of the corps from 2016 to 2018. They have posted their tour journals from all three seasons and are very active on Twitter. They have also talked about how, as a member of the brass section leadership, they were openly disrespected by other members due to their gender and orientation, and how the corps administration did nothing to protect them. They were one of the former members who called out the corps on Twitter for their "Pride" tweet, and their experience with the corps is just one example of why this new Cadets policy is necessary. If you are on Twitter, I highly recommend following them.

https://twitter.com/broskivafli

Finally, the Bluecoats recently posted an episode of their brass podcast where they interviewed Black members and staff and discussed their experiences in the activity. These interviews are just a small sample size of the kind of treatment BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color) still experience in this activity we love so much.

https://bluecoats.com/brasspodcast/2020/6/15/9-the-black-experience-in-dci

In my capacity as DCP Managing News Editor, I try not to get involved in sensitive discussions like these in the forums because my goal is to inform and make sure the facts are known. Since this discussion came from one of the front page postings I added to the site, I wanted to put forth what I knew and what I thought, along with some background as to how we got to this point and my current perspective. I hope this adds to the discussion.

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And you are informing us Kevin, some of this I did not know...::

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Just now, JimF-LowBari said:

And you are informing us Kevin, some of this I did not know...::

And that's why I provided the links. 👍

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