Black and White

Confession, I recently purchased a new car with all the bells and whistles and it came with SiriumXM and I have been glued to the 70’s on 7 channel!  I guess it brings me back to a time in my life that was fun and carefree.

Yesterday I heard this song by Three Dog Night “Black and White”.  I have heard and sang along with this song so many times over the years, but I never really knew what it was about.  You can read the specifics on Wikipedia but it was written in the 1950’s and referenced the Supreme Court Decision Brown vs. the Board of Education.  If you are not familiar with this landmark case look it up, also look up information about the Central High School Crisis in Little Rock.  All of it fascinating, some of it disgraceful but part of our history and every American should know about it.

I spent many years teaching in Little Rock and felt the remnants of the 1950’s crisis even 40 years later.  And as I write this, America is again struggling with the topic of racism and I wonder when will we learn from our past?

In one way we are only 4 generations away from this landmark case, but in another way shouldn’t we be light years away from the archaic thinking about race? I will choose to not make this blog about racism but I will urge you to listen to the song, and take a look around as you shop, work and live in your community.   We have come a long way, but we have a LONG way to go.

“Black & White”
The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

And now, at last, we plainly see
We’ll have a dance of liberty
Liberty

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

C’mon
Get it
Get it
Ohh-ohhhh yeah
Yeah
Keep it up now, around the world
Little boys and little girls
Yeah
Yeah-eah, oh-ohhh

 

The song was inspired by the United States Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which outlawed racial segregation of public schools.

The original lyrics of the song opened with this verse, in reference to the court:

Their robes were black, their heads were white,
The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight,
Nine judges all set down their names,
To end the years and years of shame.

However, the version of the song recorded by Greyhound, and subsequently covered by Three Dog Night, did not include this verse – making the song more universal, but also less historically specific.