So the inauguration happened on Tuesday. It was, of course, the greatest event in American history, and the dawning of a new era of enlightenment in the history of the human race. Since most of America was in something of a state of sensory deprivation brought on by waves of orgasmic release at the thought of George Bush's imminent return to Crawford, Texas, some people might have missed the benediction speech given Reverend Joseph Lowery near the end of the event. He sent the crowd away with these words:
"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. Now let all those who do justice and love mercy, say Amen."
He later told the local news in Atlanta that his only regret as a minister was looking out at that vast crowd of passionate people... that he wasn't allowed to pass out a collection plate.
... huh.
Anyway, if you listen to conservative radio, this was apparently A Very Big Deal. How dare he imply that the whites weren't doing what was right? Rabble rabble rabble! Right wing radio is an interesting medium - usually very loud, very angry, and completely devoid of context. I decided I'd mosey around the interwebs and see if there was a story worth telling. I found an interesting one that dates back to World War 2.
As the fight against Hitler raged, the U.S. military was stretched to the breaking point. The crisis (and the lack of alternatives) pushed the further integration of the armed forces. Throughout the 40's, the government set up all black combat units on a provisional basis, and the higher ups watched closely to see if black people could absorb bullets as well as their lighter hued peers (spoiler : they could). The Tuskegee Airmen were among these groups.
Watching the war closely was a black World War I veteran named Bill Broonzy, the son of slaves and a former sharecropper. After the war, Broonzy made a name for himself as a blues musician, gaining popularity in the northern US and Europe, and occasionally touring the south and his home state of Mississippi.
Racial discrimination, of course, was still a facet of life - there had always been places he couldn't go and places he couldn't play because of Jim Crow legislation. But throughout his career, he held out hope that an integrated military would bring together blacks and whites who otherwise would have never interacted, and get the gimpy wheelbarrow of racial progress in America on at least a downward incline.
Not so much. Black veterans who returned from war found many changes, but the harsh realities of their lives remained the same. They were still the last ones hired and the first ones fired whenever there were employment opportunities. That's well known, but what's less well known is that there was also intraracial bias in the hiring practices of the time. The better someone could pass for white, the better chances they had at getting and keeping a job. If you were black and darkskinned, you were at the very bottom of the totem pole. Big Bill Broonzy didn't miss a beat, writing "Get Back (Black, Brown, and White)" the song that would get him a following in Europe, and a complete blacklisting from the American music industry.
The lyrics read:
This little song that I'm singin' about, People, you all know that it's true, If you're black and gotta work for livin', Now, this is what they will say to you, They says: "If you was white, You's alright, If you was brown, Stick around, But if you's black, oh, brother, Get back, get back, get back."
I was in a place one night, They was all havin' fun, They was all buyin' beer and wine, But they would not sell me none. They said: "If you was white, You's alright, If you was brown, You could stick around, But as you's black, hmm, hmm, brother, Get back, get back, get back."
I went to an employment office, I got a number and I got in line, They called everybody's number, But they never did call mine. They said: "If you was white, You's alright, If you was brown, You could stick around, But as you's black, hmm, hmm, brother, Get back, get back, get back."
Me and a man was workin' side by side, Now, this is what it meant: They was payin' him a dollar an hour, And they was payin' me fifty cent. They said: "If you was white, You'd be alright, If you was brown, You could stick around, But as you's black, oh, brother, Get back, get back, get back."
I helped win sweet victories, With my plow and hoe, Now, I want you to tell me, brother, What you gonna do 'bout the old Jim Crow? Now, if you is white, You's alright, If you's brown, Stick around, But if you's black, oh, brother, Get back, get back, get back.
American record companies refused to record the song, and it all but sank his career. Like many black Americans with talent in the arts, he spent plenty of time in Europe, and after a couple of years on the road, a French label recorded the track, and with time, he was able to do other, better quality cuts of the song. Like many musicians who put in years on the road, it only took a little luck to raise his stature enough that he could make a living off of his music.
The timing was bittersweet. By the 50's, the next generation of blues musicians was striking out into the world, and they gratefully acknowledged the debt they owed to his efforts. At the same time, Broonzy's own style was becoming outdated - the blues was transitioning to a more uptempo, electric style. Still, he became something of a senior ambassador for jazz abroad, directly assissting in the career of Muddy Waters, and serving as a major influence on Eric Clapton, who would go on to cover "Key To The Highway", another of Broonzy's songs, with rock supergroup Derek and the Dominoes.
One of the advantages music has over the real world is that context is a very tangible thing, and history is often a straight line running from one person on the radio today to the guy whose stuff he likes. Context, the understanding of how one event impacts the next, is rarely examined in our hyperactive, 24 hour news cycle-driven society, and while Americans are always quick to brush off World War II, Lincoln's hard choices, and the other trinkets of history, polishing them off again and again and placing them on an honored shelf in their memory, the nasty pieces of history are just as often shoved under the rug, and those who dare mention them are usually chastised.
"Why you bringin' that up for?"
But when we examine history at a level deeper than soundbites and histrionics, we can uncover its full richness and take steps to connect it to the familiar. That's the kind of perspective that can lead to a better understanding of each other.
Say Amen.
crossposted @ stereozeitgeist.com