Jazz and Heroin: Post-War America
3 July 2013
A New Jazz
“Post-war America, Jazz and Heroin” by Zenga Longmore and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” Life after the Second World War changed for many, including the previously jolly jazzmen in Harlem. Whether through conspiracy, a search to remedy the anxieties of a ‘struggling for image’ musician, or just something that was pressed as a requirement to belong, heroin certainly made its bleak presence known. Trumpeter Red Rodney once said, “Heroin became the thing that made us different from the rest of the world. It was the thing that gave us membership in a unique club.” The conspiracy theory that some believe was planned to devastate Harlem’s black inhabitants does seem to have some clout. Female jazz musician Billie Holiday was one who may have fell ‘victim’ to this scheme. She was arrested in 1947 for narcotics charges, deliberately targeted for the such. Colonel White, a narcotics agent, regarding the idea of persecuting Billie admitted that:
Billie Holiday was a name, and we wanted to get some publicity… [The idea of arresting her was] a sudden inspiration to polish her off, to kick her over.
Her arresting officer Jimmy Fletcher also boasted that he was carrying over six pounds of heroin at one time, assumingly used to supply his informants. Post WWII America appeared to have not been changed by way of the democratic freedoms won in Europe. Black jazz musicians of this time were still singled out, denied integration with the rest of the population. They were forced to use staff lifts and back stairs at venues. They were made to stay in “black only” hotel rooms. And in some areas, they were even barred from eating in most restaurants. These young, lonely, unrecognized musicians tried to bond with one another to blot out the dismal world around them; in an effort to find positivity and acceptance, play together, and inspire confidence, they were exposed to heroin. At one time, jazz great Miles Davis was even a
A New Jazz
“Post-war America, Jazz and Heroin” by Zenga Longmore and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” Life after the Second World War changed for many, including the previously jolly jazzmen in Harlem. Whether through conspiracy, a search to remedy the anxieties of a ‘struggling for image’ musician, or just something that was pressed as a requirement to belong, heroin certainly made its bleak presence known. Trumpeter Red Rodney once said, “Heroin became the thing that made us different from the rest of the world. It was the thing that gave us membership in a unique club.” The conspiracy theory that some believe was planned to devastate Harlem’s black inhabitants does seem to have some clout. Female jazz musician Billie Holiday was one who may have fell ‘victim’ to this scheme. She was arrested in 1947 for narcotics charges, deliberately targeted for the such. Colonel White, a narcotics agent, regarding the idea of persecuting Billie admitted that:
Billie Holiday was a name, and we wanted to get some publicity… [The idea of arresting her was] a sudden inspiration to polish her off, to kick her over.
Her arresting officer Jimmy Fletcher also boasted that he was carrying over six pounds of heroin at one time, assumingly used to supply his informants. Post WWII America appeared to have not been changed by way of the democratic freedoms won in Europe. Black jazz musicians of this time were still singled out, denied integration with the rest of the population. They were forced to use staff lifts and back stairs at venues. They were made to stay in “black only” hotel rooms. And in some areas, they were even barred from eating in most restaurants. These young, lonely, unrecognized musicians tried to bond with one another to blot out the dismal world around them; in an effort to find positivity and acceptance, play together, and inspire confidence, they were exposed to heroin. At one time, jazz great Miles Davis was even a
Cited: Baldwin, James “Sonny’s Blues.” The Story and Its Writer. Ed. Ann Charters. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 36-58. Print Longmore, Zenga. “Zenga Longmore on Post-war America, Jazz, and Heroin.” socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog 10 June 2005. Web. 3 July 2013.