segregation/integration in the NYC jazz scene

[Beverly Flanigan]

No, I didn't mean to imply you were caviling at all; in fact, it was a nice
commentary.  I'm concerned about talk of "vomiting" etc. while watching the
show just because the city of origin might be wrong, or the etymology of
the word might be wrong, or whatever.  I don't wear my linguist's (or
dialectologist's, or lexicographer's) hat all the time, and this is one
time I'm happy to take it off.

At 03:28 PM 1/11/01 -0600, you wrote:
>    I hope it's not caviling to point out the very interesting way
>that Benny Goodman skirted the absurd segregation rules of his time.
>This reminds me of an observation made by someone (Harry Golden, I
>believe) in the 1950s. He pointed out that the only time Southern
>whites objected to being together with blacks was when they had to
>sit down together ( e.g., buses, restaurants, bathrooms).  His novel
>suggestion: Have a restaurant where no one sits down. Some (many?)
>restaurants were in fact tried along this line, and to everyone's
>pleasant surprise, there was no objection to the integration.
>
>     This should all be grist for the mill of psychologists and sociologists.
>But I'm aware this is off-topic for a linguistic discussion, and so
>my next message (whatever it is) will be back on track.
>
>---Gerald Cohen
>
>>  So I'd recommend we cavil less and recognize the overall
>>contribution of the show,as when Wynton Marsalis movingly discussed
>>the race issue the other
>>night.


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm