The ink is black
The page is white
Together we learn to read and write
The child is black
The child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
The beautiful sight
The words spoke to my appreciation of ethnic diversity and reflected the truth that racism is learned behavior (and its corollary that bigotry would diminish as new generations of Americans transcended their parents' prejudices).
The appeal to brotherhood was typical of the early '70s, a time of great social change when a soulful song with an important universal message could reach number one on the Billboard charts.
The appeal to brotherhood was typical of the early '70s, a time of great social change when a soulful song with an important universal message could reach number one on the Billboard charts.
"Black and White" was written by David I. Arkin and Earl Robinson in 1954, spurred on by the Supreme Court's watershed Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which ended legal segregation in public education.
As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Brown today, it's easy to be skeptical about the prospects for social and political evolution in America's near future. The election (and re-election) of a mild-mannered black president has spawned legions of white Tea Party faux patriots and an upsurge in militia membership. Fox News has a propaganda grip on a not-so-discerning one third of the country. And dirty corporate money continues to corrode our political system and block human progress.
But underneath the plutocrats, reactionaries, and low-information voters is a tolerant, enlightened America which has the potential to live up to its ideals. As Brown showed, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Road to the Mountaintop (about the speech King gave on the last night of his life)
Honest Abe Makes Sausage (a review of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln")
Actions, Not Words (a life review of Ollie Matson, an Olympic medal winner, NFL Hall-of-Famer, civil rights trailblazer, and good citizen)
But underneath the plutocrats, reactionaries, and low-information voters is a tolerant, enlightened America which has the potential to live up to its ideals. As Brown showed, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
***
Other civil rights writing by Dan Benbow:
Honest Abe Makes Sausage (a review of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln")
Actions, Not Words (a life review of Ollie Matson, an Olympic medal winner, NFL Hall-of-Famer, civil rights trailblazer, and good citizen)
