Severe Ignorance Concerning the Color Guard

I wrote the article, All About “Color Guard” and “Color Team” (please read it, it will help you understand this article) because of the use of the term “color team” in ceremonial drill and also because some in the military community act arrogantly toward marching band color guards. I never dreamed I would receive such a horrible, insulting comment from a marching band color guard girl in defense of what she thinks she understands.

The comment

While it’s in the photo above, a screen shot of the email I received when the comment was posted to the article, I’ll paste it here also.

I am a Highschool girl and I am in Color Guard. I spin “random colored flags”, riffles and sabers. I also dance and perform while I spin. I am not protecting anything nor do I feel associated with the military. I am In Color Guard  just not the ones you old DrillMasters know and remember.  No matter how much you guys hate us we will never stop and demote  the name of what we love to color team, since that is not what we are. We are the modern day Color Guard and we love what I do.

“Cecilia”

The Reply

I’m very disappointed in you, Cecilia ( it doesn’t matter if that is not your name). You did not grasp what I wrote and that makes me wonder if I did not write well enough for you (and others) to understand. I’m going to reread the article and see if I can make it better.

What might even be worse is that you did not bother to read my About page, or even glance at it. With just a tiny bit of effort, you would have seen that I have taught winter (indoor) guards and that I received certification as a General Effect Visual Judge from Color Guard Netherlands under the direction of Winter Guard International (WGI). I have been a visual judge for marching bands and drum corps for years. Instead, you decided that you would insult me and accuse me of hating marching band color guards.

You are defending nothing because all I did was explain that marching band color guards (MBCG, I use that longer term to help those in the military differentiate the two entities) began as military color guards, what we still have today. The great thing is that the MBCG began to expand and develop – something that a military color guard could never do.

You spin flag, rifle, and sabre (since that piece of equipment is associated with dance, the French spelling is used, not “saber”). Do you know where these weapons come from? Do you know that the flagstaff is actually also a weapon? I tried explaining the history that Drum Corps International and WGI have put out and associated it with what I do and have done for many, many years.

It is a privilege to carry on the name of “color guard member” for a marching band or drum and bugle corps. Lashing out as you did brings discredit and shame on the activity.

You should be ashamed of yourself for such a disrespectful and arrogant comment. I hope you come to your senses.

I Checked

I just read through the article that I originally posted back in 2013 and changed a couple of words and added a comma or two, but 99.99% of the words are the same as when I originally wrote it. My guess is that you didn’t bother to read anything. You assumed and reacted. Doing that is not going to serve you well at all in life. From now on, please read and even ask questions to try and understand what someone else is attempting to communicate. The same goes for being face-to-face with someone- listen with the intent to understand and not try to fix or judge.