What ever happened to... Al Jolson?

So, Judy and I went to see the opening performance of the Oregon Symphony Pop's Series last night and were treated to a wonderful evening of George and Ira Gershwin. We heard pieces from Porgy and Bess, Funny Face, An American in Paris and, of course, Rhapsody in Blue. There was a guest baritone to sing many of the songs and a guest painist for Rhapsody. The most surprising thing for me was the song "Swanee" rocketing Gershwin to notoriety in 1919 when Al Jolson sang it in New York.

Now, I've listened to music all my life. My mom was an accomplished pianist before she married and we always had piano music, albums, etc. I was exposed to musicals; I grew up with Arthur Feidler and the Boston Pops Orchestra; I listened to The Ray Conniff Singers at Christmas and knew who Rosemary Clooney was before her nephew hit the screen (Come On-a My House is one of my favorites). I know who Al Jolson is and I know what he was famous for... his black-face routine. What I didn't know is that George Gershwin wrote Swanee.

It got me thinking. How many people know about Uncle Remus with Briar Rabbit and Zip-a-dee-doo-da? I don't discount the fact that slavery was a bad thing. I hope the whole world learns that slavery is bad and needs to be abolished globally. But, how much history are we ignoring or forgetting for the sake of other's feelings?

For years, Germany has been trying to tear down the remains of the concentration camps to remove the blight from their history yet the Jewish communities say no. They are proud of the fact that they survived and will never forget. They want the world to remember. Why should slavery be any different? A great deal of history and culture came out of slavery and it should not be buried for the sake of our egos. It should not only be allowed to be remembered by one group of people.

If we, as a species, are going to learn from the past and build a better future, we need to embrace our history and keep it close as a reminder as we move forward.