“One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for All.” These words from the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance are uttered in school classrooms across the country every day. I should also note that these same words are uttered each year at the opening session of the United States Senate—where our elected officials declaring our country “indivisible” rings hypocrisy through the hallowed hall.
Not so many years ago, President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill battled over multiple issues including—but not limited to—tax reform, Social Security, Medicare, and military spending. In the political spectrum they were polar opposites, but the one thing they shared—an intense desire to keep our country moving forward—helped them hammer out many compromises that made the 80’s a decade to remember. They didn’t refrain from political jabs; Reagan once compared O’Neill to PacMan, “A large round thing that gobbles up money.” O’Neill wasn’t always civil to Reagan either; calling him a “cheerleader for selfishness” and calling Ballyporeen, the home of Reagan’s Irish forebears, “The valley of small potatoes.” But when the day was finished, these two men who loved their country put away the gloves and enjoyed a drink together. Said Tip O’Neill, “That’s just politics. After 6 o’clock we’re friends.”[i]
In March of 1986, President Reagan spoke at a dinner honoring Tip O’Neill. In his often humorous speech that poked fun at both himself and O’Neill, he said this:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I think you know Tip and I've been kidding each other for some time now. And I hope you also know how much I hope this continues for many years to come. A little kidding is, after all, a sign of affection, the sort of things that friends do to each other. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm grateful you have permitted me in the past, and I hope in the future, that singular honor, the honor of calling you my friend.”[ii]
Friend? How could two men whose political views were polar opposites be friends? Perhaps it is because these two giants in our nation’s history understood that differences of opinion should not divide us as a country, should not divide us and human beings, and should not foster hate or prejudice. Recently the openly gay liberal Ellen DeGeneres was photographed enjoying a Dallas Cowboys football game with former president George W. Bush. The seemingly innocuous picture elicited immediate negative response. How dare Ellen sit next to a staunch conservative who once fought mightily against same sex marriage? The picture, labeled by so many as a betrayal of Ellen’s lesbian legacy, compelled her to address it on her daily talk show. She said:
“I’m friends with George Bush. In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different, and I think we’ve forgotten that that’s okay that we’re all different. Just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I can’t be friends with them. When I say, ‘Be kind to one another,’ I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean, ‘Be kind to everyone, it doesn’t matter.’”[iii]
Why did Ellen have to defend herself for simply sitting at a football game with someone with different beliefs than her? Have we forgotten that our strength as a human race exists in diversity? As I read the responses to Ellen’s statement, both supporting her and criticizing her, I couldn’t help but think about the important lesson the people of our country could learn by sitting in a band room.
In the band family, diversity is both embraced and recognized for the powerful outcomes it offers. Synergy – the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – reigns when beautiful harmony supplants dissonance and discord. Those who preach “my way or the highway” could learn so much from listening to students playing instruments with such diverse tone qualities they seemingly have no right making music together.
The modern concert band is filled with a variety of instruments, all with highly unique timbres. Composers for the concert band today work with these sounds just as artist would turn the multiple colors on his palette into a beautiful piece of art. They combined the clean timbre of the flute, the nasally tone of the oboe and bassoon, the clearness of the clarinet, the reedy quality of the saxophone, the mournful tone of the horn, the brassy sound of the trumpet, the rich timbre of the trombone, the beefy punch of the tuba, and the multiple sounds of a variety of percussion instruments to create music of unsurpassed beauty. In the concert band, it is diversity – not uniformity – that makes the music happen.
In order for the performance to be successful, the musicians need to recognize their responsibility to the group and must play as a part of the team. To balance the band, the musicians listen for the dynamic level established by the tuba section. The tubas, along with the other low brass and woodwinds, learn to listen to the melody so they can shape their accompaniment along with the musical phrase. When musicians have a solo, they know that they must play loud enough for their sound to rise above the rest of the performers—and the other performers know that if they can’t hear the solo they are playing too loud. Percussionists have one of the greater challenges; they are in the back where they can’t hear how loud the other musicians are playing, so they must rely on the conductor to indicate whether or not they need to play louder or softer. Above all else, the greatest musical performances take place when the musicians trust each other and their conductor without question. Complete trust allows the musicians to communicate the nuances of the music with each other during performance, which then translates to immense beauty for the audience.
Unity doesn’t begin and end with the music. Any visitor to a band room throughout America will find unity, love, and friendship with a group of students just as diverse as the instruments they play. I taught for 30 years at a predominantly white, middle class high school known for its cliques, and even there the band room was the place where students of all ethnicities, sexual orientation, religions, and political beliefs would meet and find common ground. Each morning before school band members congregated in the room. High honors students worked side-by-side with resource kids. Students from affluent homes welcomed those who received free lunch. Lively discussion—and even debate—marked the beginning of each school day among these students who found common ground in the music they played together. The students didn’t let their differences determine who they would associate with. True to the words from their mission statement, they were “a unified team of winds, percussion, and color guard,” and above all they were friends. Like the famous song by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, band members realized that if instruments with seemingly opposing sounds and tone qualities could live together in perfect harmony, why can’t we?
As I have witnessed the bullying, criticizing, and demeaning words of many of the leaders of our country in the past couple of years, I find myself hearing the words of a poem written several years ago by Carol Lynn Pearson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the author of the powerful book about supporting and loving LGBT members of her church, No More Goodbyes. The poem was set to music by Reid Nibley and is sung regularly in the Sunday school meetings of the young church members. While most think the song is simply about being a friend to physically or mentally handicapped people, I believe it carries a deeper message that our fractured and divided society could benefit from. I close this essay with words we can all live by:
I’ll Walk With You
If you don't walk as most people do,
Some people walk away from you,
But I won't! I won't!
If you don't talk as most people do,
Some people talk and laugh at you,
But I won't! I won't!
I'll walk with you. I'll talk with you.
That's how I'll show my love for you.
Jesus walked away from none.
He gave his love to ev'ryone.
So I will! I will!
Jesus blessed all he could see,
Then turned and said, "Come, follow me."
And I will! I will!
I will! I will!
I'll walk with you. I'll talk with you.
That's how I'll show my love for you.[iv]
[i] Starnes, Todd. “Ronald Reagan, Tip O’Neill and their 6 o’clock Friendship,” toddstarnes.com https://www.toddstarnes.com/uncategorized/ronald-reagan-tip-oneill-and-their-6-oclock-friendship/
[ii] Reagan, Ronald. “Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Speaker of the House of Representatives Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr.,” reaganlibrary.gov. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/31786f
[iii] Degeneres, Ellen. “This Photo of Ellen George W Bush Will Give You Faith in America Again.” Ellentube.com, https://www.ellentube.com/video/this-photo-of-ellen-george-w-bush-will-give-you-faith-in-america-again.html
[iv] Pearson, Carol Lynn. “I’ll Walk With You.” Children’s Songbook, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT, 1989
