Regarding Jazz and Baseball, he dwells on racism in American history in almost the same way the Communist Party of the USA did in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Making baseball legitimate by finally including black players is a disservice to the game and by neglecting the white musician’s contribution to jazz serves to perpetuate the myth that the black player has more credibility.
For better or worse, the focus on racism is a constant in Burns’ work. As I said earlier he sees American history through the prism of Civil Rights. I just don’t feel that automatically makes him a propagandist. I don’t have to agree with a writer/historian on every little insight.