Little-known 1922 rule bans jazz in New Orleans schools

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — During Carnival season, flocks of marching bands parade through the city streets even though jazz music and dancing has been banned in New Orleans public schools for almost a century. The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports the Orleans Parish School Board is poised this week to reverse that policy 100 years after it was passed. Officials say the rule has racist origins, as its creators sought at the time to distance New Orleans schoolchildren from the African Americans who created the genre. School officials say they’re glad the local jazz ban has been ignored for decades. The board planned to vote to reverse the policy Thursday.