Why an HBCU marching band will perform at Trump's inauguration
When Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Friday, Shylexis Robinson will lend a hand with the festivities. She plays the clarinet in the Talladega College marching band, which has accepted an invitation to perform in the inaugural parade.
鈥�,鈥� she told a reporter at the school鈥檚 campus in central Alabama.
Every four years, the inauguration promises a national audience to performers lucky enough to land a spot. But this time, an unusual number of singers and groups are taking a pass. In December, the Monitor reported that opera singer Andrea Bocelli cancelled his performance after intense criticism. Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Rockettes have done likewise.
The critics pressuring these musicians to avoid this year's inauguration come from many quarters. But civil rights groups are especially concerned about the president-elect鈥檚 stance on racial issues. In a statement released after the election, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People vowed to 鈥� against any attempt to roll back hard-won civil and human rights advances.鈥�
But students and administrators at Talladega College, a historically black school, are choosing to look past politics. They see the band鈥檚 upcoming trip to Washington as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Ninety-nine percent of these students ," Talladega College president Billy Hawkins told AL.com. 鈥淓very one of these students are American citizens ... they have a right to be a part of this historic ceremony,鈥�
The trip to Washington promises to broaden the horizons of many band members. As 57 percent of Talladega students , which support low-income students, the band to raise $75,000 for travel expenses.聽
The inaugural parade offers a chance for student musicians from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain exposure. featured bands from Grambling State University, a historically black school in Louisiana, as well as Ballou Senior High School in inner-city Washington, DC.
Other schools like these have taken a pass on the Trump inauguration. DC鈥檚 NBC affiliate reported that . Historically black Howard University, also in the city, performed in George W. Bush鈥檚 second inauguration but declined to apply this year.
None of these schools explicitly linked their decisions to Mr. Trump鈥檚 stance on racial attitudes, but the president-elect has faced repeated criticism for his statements about minorities and his refusal to disavow white supremacist supporters.
During the campaign, Trump drew sharp criticism from minority groups after saying, 鈥淎frican-Americans and Hispanics are living in hell,鈥� and that 鈥淎frican-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in.鈥�
Before that, Trump espoused 鈥�birther鈥� theories that claimed without basis that President Obama had been born outside the country.
For some, those actions should rule out Talladega鈥檚 participating. 鈥淭he idea that a college that has long stood for civil rights would celebrate and normalize a man who got elected denigrating the first African-American president ,鈥� Carl Singley, a 1968 Talladega graduate and civil rights activist, told the New York Times.
Singley also speculated that many Trump supporters had given to the band鈥檚 GoFundMe campaign to prove they were not racists. As of Saturday morning, the band had collected nearly $355,000 鈥� many times their original target.
But whatever the motives of those who gave, Talladega鈥檚 students are willing to look past Trump鈥檚 politics for the chance to perform. As explained by Shylexis Robinson, the clarinetist who considers the invitation an "honor," ".鈥�
