I forgot to edit enough. After the last sentence of this excerpt, I should
have put in this:
The young white man went on to become an attorney and help write the
desegregation laws of the early sixties. So Louis Armstrong, because of his
amazing gift, inadvertently inspired the reform of laws that shackled him
and his contemporaries in the southern states.
I said,
***
Then, tonight, in the "Jazz" series, they had a segment about a young white
man (I don't remember his name) who, at the age of 17 witnessed the most
brilliant musician by far in his life.... Louis Armstrong. The young man
reflected that he had been raised to think that (paraphrased)
'Negros (his word) were fine in their place. But standing there, witnessing
this man, this amazingly gifted trumpeter, this *genius*, made me ask
myself, "What exactly is the *place* for a man such as *this*?'
Louis Armstrong made him realize that 'allowing a people their place' was a
lie, a euphemism for restricting a people who should be free.
***
insert new text here
Thanks all,
Lama
