The Talladega College Marching Band is marching on – for now.
Facing blistering criticism from social media and, more important, alumni of the historically black college, Talladega President Billy C. Hawkins is reconsidering whether the school will appear in President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural parade on Jan. 20 in Washington.
A spokesman for the school said Wednesday that Hawkins would make a decision later in the day. But no decision had been announced as of 11 p.m.
But the obvious delay signals what a difficult a decision this may be: give up a chance for the celebrated band to perform in front of the world at a presidential inaugural, or appear to endorse a man who was roundly rejected and reviled by African-American voters?
The Marching Tornadoes are on a list of 40 participants issued last week by Trump’s inaugural committee. But almost as soon as the list was released the backlash began. Many Talladega graduates saw it as an endorsement of a man they view as patronizingly racist. Some people called it a money grab. Others even suggested that the initial decision was meant to curry political favor with U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Trump’s nominee for attorney general.
The school’s alumni Facebook page hummed constantly, while “black Twitter” and various news sites and blogs roasted the tiny 150-year-old school.
Shirley Ferrill, a 1974 graduate of the school, even launched an online petition calling on the band to "withdraw from any inaugural events for Donald Trump." As of Wednesday night, it had more than 1,300 signatures.
“I am not in favor of it, because of the posture that Trump has taken regarding black people and minorities. I don’t think that he has adequately represented minorities,” said Maurice Dukes, a 1968 Talladega graduate and resident of Atlanta. “It seems like an endorsement of his stance.”
Credit: @talladegacollegemarchingband
Credit: @talladegacollegemarchingband
The inaugural parade controversy offers a preview of how African-Americans will regard a Trump administration.
Although Trump predicted he would win the black vote only 8 percent of African-Americans voted for him. During his campaign he often referred to black people as “the African-Americans,” and only addressed blacks through a lens of poverty, crime, violence and a lack of education.
Against that backdrop, large numbers of Talladega College alumni opposed the band’s participation in Trump’s parade.
“This feels like we are selling out to get attention,” said Antiwan Walker, a 1993 graduate and English professor in the Atlanta area. “Being asked to march in the inaugural parade should be an honor. But for this person and that event – no. And it is already coming back to bite us.”
With less than three weeks to go before Trump is installed as the 45th president of the United States, organizers have had a tough time attracting A-list celebrities, and minority groups, to participate in his inauguration. In the recent past, presidents Bush and Obama attracted top entertainment figures – black and white – to participate in their ceremonies. Trump hasn't been so fortunate.
English pop singer Rebecca Ferguson, who is biracial with a Jamaican father and British mother, said she would only accept the invitation if she could sing "Strange Fruit" – a Billie Holliday song about lynchings.
Trump’s parade lineup was also lacking in major college marching bands.
Howard University, citing “financial constraints,” turned down an invitation. Major high school bands in D.C. also turned Trump down.
Founded in 1867 by two former slaves, Talladega College is Alabama’s oldest private HBCU. Among the college’s showpieces is a set of six murals depicting black life by painter Hale Woodruff, including the renowned Amistad Murals. Andrew Young wrote in his memoir “An Easy Burden” that he met Martin Luther King Jr. for the first time at a fraternity program at the college in 1957.
But it wasn’t until 2012 – despite not having a football team – that “Dega” established a marching band. By 2015, the Marching Tornadoes had been invited to the prestigious Battle of the Band, which showcases HBCU bands here in Atlanta.
Today, with close to 300 members, it is the largest and most powerful student organization on campus and the school’s most visible calling card.
“Even when we got recruited, they talked about having a band at school,” said LaWan Foster, a 1999 Talladega graduate who ended up singing in the choir. “We love our band and alma mater and having one makes the school more marketable. We just didn’t support the decision to do this.”
Which is why Foster is planning to boycott the event, even though she lives only 25 miles away from the parade route in suburban Maryland.
Norman Pitts, president of the Atlanta Alumni Chapter of Talladega College, said he has mixed feelings about the invitation.
Based on Trump’s record among blacks and minorities, which Pitts doesn’t see changing, he would rather not have his school participate.
But he also acknowledges that Talladega, with only about 1,500 students, could use the needed exposure.
“Many people probably hadn’t heard of Talladega College before this. We are 150 years old this year. We are small, with a deep history,” said Pitts, a 1984 graduate. “But being a graduate of an HBCU, there are some serious concerns about how Trump’s presidency will affect us. But the inauguration is bigger than any president. The inauguration doesn’t belong to Trump.”
Walker, the 1993 grad, said there is no upside to the school participating. He said that while the attention to the school has obviously increased, most of it has been negative and could have a lasting impact on the school’s reputation and ability to recruit.
“It is inappropriate for an HBCU that prides itself on being created by slaves, to educate former slaves and the descendants of slaves to participate in a production like this,” Walker said. “He is using us. But I guess by inviting us, he was showing how he was going to get blacks out of the ghetto, out of poverty, away from crime and on a path to better educations.”
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