MARSALIS: “When I see my white friends who are now 50-something, we’ve been friends for a long time and we have serious conversations like you have with long-term friends. And that was kind of characteristic of that, not ‘Let’s have a meeting and discuss this statue and let’s go and argue about black and white folks.’ It wasn’t that way.”
CAPEHART: “It’s interesting, you downplayed your impact and your role, ‘I wrote a column, we were just talking...’ But you surely recognize and see the power of your words and your — what’s the word I’m looking for — example is not the right word, but —“
MARSALIS: “My words are not that powerful. I started saying in 1985, I don’t think we should have a music talking about niggers and bitches and hoes. It had no impact. I’ve said it. I’ve repeated it. I still repeat it. To me that’s more damaging than a statue of Robert E. Lee. That statue of Robert E. Lee took me — I saw the statue, my great uncle hated it, I talked about it. But try to talk somewhere in front of group of black folks about turning that off. Man... Try to ask them not to do it. Me and Cornel West talked at the Black Arts Festival. I talked about subjects I know little about, politics and this and that. I spoke about it and everybody is like, ‘Yeah, brother. Oh, brother, I agree with you.” The second we got on the one subject I know I know more than anybody in that room about, music, I started telling that and they didn’t want to hear that.”