September 22, 2003
DR. MARSALIS PRESCRIBES:
Wynton Marsalis says nation is losing its cultural identity (JOE CAREY, September 22, 2003, Associated Press)
Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis has uncovered a new enemy working against Americans, and it's not Saddam Hussein or al-Qaida terrorists.When it comes to America's cultural identity, "apathy is the enemy," he said Tuesday.
Marsalis said it's more important than ever to invest in arts education. "I'm increasingly worried about what I see around our country. ... I've seen an entire generation of Americans who are culturally ignorant," he said during an appearance at the National Press Club.
He said arts funding amounts to only $1 per child per year, and he called on the federal government to double that.
The diagnosis is right, but the cure's dubious. School's have done enough damage. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 22, 2003 6:36 PM
You'd think differently if you compared the statements being made about immigrant children in the 1920s with now.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at September 22, 2003 10:09 PMThey're identical. We always hate immigrants, especially when we need them.
Posted by: oj at September 22, 2003 10:32 PMFor immigrants, a healthy dose of self-hatred
for being "different" can be a good thing.
A little negative peer pressure against
non-assimilating stragglers is what pulled the
great hordes of Europe into the Anglo-Saxon
fold. My forbears even though most were raised
in ethnically homogenous parochial schools or
convent schools learned to be American as well
as any public-school educated immigrant kids.