Jazz music and the civil rights movement are directly linked to each other because in the world of jazz only the ability to play your instrument counts, while everything else it is irrelevant. Jazz music was insanely popular and appealed to the masses despite differences in race and gender. Music helped create a bond between whites and blacks, bringing them together for the simple enjoyment of art. The effects of jazz music broke down social barriers, greatly influencing and shaping the civil rights movement into the success it was. Martin Luther King Jr also spoke of the importance of jazz in the movement, stating: “Jazz speaks for life. The blues tells a story of life's hardships… they take the harshest realities of life and put them to music, only to come away with a new hope or sense of triumph.” Louis Armstrong, one of jazz's most important figures, played a role in the movement throughout his career. Armstrong himself faced racial discrimination, he was also outspoken at times but was controversial in the jazz community for not using his status more often to take a stronger stand against the problems facing the black community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayLouis Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans in 1901. He grew up poor, powerless, and did not have an easy life which led to his stardom. His career lasted about fifty years, from the early 1920s to the 1960s. He was very talented and a very charismatic artist. Armstrong was an influential trumpeter and a beautiful singer with a rich voice. He also shifted the focus from collective to solo improvisation, changing the direction of jazz music. Armstrong was no stranger to racism and learned from an early age that opposing racism would only cause him harm and create problems. It was born in a time of tension after the Robert Charles Riots of 1900, where African American Robert Charles shot a police officer for harassing him. Racial tensions between blacks and whites skyrocketed following that incident. However, something that set him apart from other jazz musicians is that he was celebrated and appreciated by white people despite the social climate of the time and the fact that many of them considered him an inferior person. From the beginning of his career, Armstrong was faced with the harsh reality of racism. In his early days, when he played with a band on a riverboat to predominantly white audiences, he very clearly experienced segregation between blacks and whites. Although there was a strong bond between him and the audience, there was still a gap between them that could not be bridged. Despite the fact that the audience deeply appreciated his creative melodies and felt moved and emotionally connected to the music, this did not arouse enough compassion in them to treat him and his band members better than they were normally treated. After their performances, the African-American members of the band were “not permitted to mingle with the white guests under any circumstances” (Armstrong). Surprisingly enough, Armstrong went on to claim that he "never held a grudge" for the way he was treated by his white audiences, and went on to say that he "always loved his white people, and they always showed that they loved him and his music” (Armstrong). These statements about how he felt about the segregation he experienced and his white audience obviously did not go over well with his African American audience and other black jazz musicians, causing outrageArmstrong's and general political neutrality on such issues due to his internalized fear of speaking out is what largely alienated him from the jazz community. They wanted him to take a much firmer stance on the discrimination African Americans experienced on a daily basis, especially since it was favored by whites and had such a broad scope. The black community disliked the fact that he did very little to exercise his status within the white community to bring about social change. However, Armstrong viewed being openly confrontational about discrimination and prejudice as a dangerous act to commit. Armstrong felt that being subservient to whites was an unfortunately necessary evil in order to live successfully and happily. He found that the only way to reap the benefits of success and be protected was to have “a white captain to back you up in the old days” (Armstrong). Louis Armstrong even recounts how he had to suppress his anger when his white manager, Johnny Collins, referred to him as a racist slur. Although he wants to “tear his obscenity to pieces… But that's a different story. He's a white man. So I don't do obscenities with Johnny,” he held back to prevent trouble from happening to him. He voluntarily kept quiet because he was not an established person with enough power at the time to take a stand against a white man. Armstrong maintained this silence and never spoke about political issues until much later in his career, when he was already an established artist and had a reputation within the white community. An example of Louis Armstrong exercising his influence as a way to protest, is when he wrote a letter to the President of the United States in 1957, expressing his displeasure with their action. Armstrong criticized President Dwight Eisenhower's inaction in supporting Brown's decision against the Board of Education to desegregate schools, to allow nine African-American students to attend Little Rock Central High School. His silence on such an important issue in American society at the time allowed resistance to the law. Armstrong's unexpected harsh criticism carried a lot of weight and had a huge impact on the Eisenhower administration and contributed greatly to the civil rights movement. Out of anger at the way his people were being treated in the South, he referred to President Eisenhower as someone who was “'two-faced' and 'courageless.'” He even went so far as to cancel his goodwill tour of Russia, saying that “the way they treat my people in the south, the government can go to hell” as a way to protest. Armstrong's vocalization of his disapproval of resistance to desegregation largely contradicts claims that many people thought he was an Uncle Tom and that he had long since turned his back on being a voice for his black audience. Furthermore, Armstrong was always one to embrace his culture and never sold out to his white audience. She maintained her personality, her fashion, her hairstyle, her musical style and never succumbed to the white standard. In the early 1930s he refused to straighten his hair to appeal to his white audience, staying true to his roots. Musically, Armstrong maintained his individuality in a world where being different was not welcome and never failed to be himself. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Louis Armstrong not only transcended boundaries, but also helped push American society in a positive direction. His unique ability to connect with the.