It is all Americans who now have a better life by being able to interact with people of all colors and orientations in most of our institutions. We can still hope for a more complete realization of Dr. King s I have a dream speech. That would be a time when all are judged on their abilities not color of their skin. We can also be grateful for the contributions of black Americans to our culture. This is most emphatically true in the music that is the most clearly American - jazz.
Jazz is especially significant as a playing out of the American governmental experience.
The essence of jazz is the essence of our democratic system. For black Americans, during most of their history, this freedom was limited mainly to music, dancing and religion. Thus the emergence of ragtime, blues and jazz as a contribution to American culture is equal or superior to any other. Out of the blues comes all modern popular music. This musical progression met with resistance from many elements of society.