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Thursday, June 3, 2010
Boomer with Attitude / News Is Symphony in favor of illegal immigration?!
Posted By John Grooms on Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 3:38 PM
I guess it doesn’t take much to push some folks’ ethnocentric buttons. We’ve heard some grumbles, and have seen some well-plucked eyebrows raised, over an issue that is so minor, so, so piddling, that it’s almost embarrassing to bring it up. A letter to the daily paper today, however, has brought this momentous controversy out into the open, so we may as well acknowledge the growing local discontent over ... ready for it? ... one single, solitary musical selection to be played by the Symphony Pops.
Evidently, some folks don’t like it that the Symphony’s Summer Pops July Fourth show, called “Celebrate America,” will include a medley called ... you may want to send your children out of the room for this ... “Fiesta Latina.” GASP! NOOOO!! NOT THAT!!!
As we said, we’ve heard some discreet griping about this blatant intrusion of evil foreign influences into a strictly all-American, whitebread event, but those complaints were private and lowkey. One brave Fort Mill woman, however, decided she didn’t care how bitter or ignorant she would seem, so she wrote to the Observer about this travesty. The writer says when she read that “Fiesta Latina” would be part of the July Fourth show, “I was absolutely dumbstruck,” and we believe her. She goes on to chastise the symphony for focusing on just one of America’s cultural heritages, “to the exclusion of all others,” never mind that all the other selections, save the national anthem, are focused on pleasing Suburban Vanilla Dullard culture. Here’s another problem with that attitude:
The symphony schedule clearly notes that “Festival Latina” is “A celebration of Latin dance in popular American music” – you know, as in, say, Desi Arnaz, “Blame It On The Bossa Nova,” Xavier Cugat, “Rum and Coca-Cola,” Conga lines, etc. Heck, even the country hit “El Paso” and the early rock classic “Little Darlin’” (written by Charlottean Maurice Williams) evinced strong Latin flavors. All in all, this isn’t a collection of tunes that makes you think: “Tribute To Illegal Lawn Care Workers.” Unless, of course, you’re just inclined to think of anything non-whitebread as something foreign. In which case, if you’re not careful, spouting your prejudices in public could possibly make you seem sorta culturally backward, and maybe also just a wee bit, well, stupido.
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