justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

“You’ve got to be taught…”

This song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific from the late ‘40s, has a powerful message, one that is so relevant in this day and age as we grapple with instances of prejudice, bias…

You’ve got to be taught

You've got to be taught

To hate and fear,

You've got to be taught

From year to year,

It's got to be drummed

In your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid

Of people whose eyes are oddly made,

And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,

You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,

Before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate,

You've got to be carefully taught!

I often look back at the “growing up” years of my life…my formative years…and being raised in a home with prejudiced parents who had trouble with all people who were “different” from them. Both of my parents were born in England in the early 20^th century and their prejudices were learned from their working class parents and families. Even the Scottish and Irish, neighbors in the United Kingdom, were looked down upon by my parents. It’s what they’d been taught. I do understand they were both products of a much different culture than I, but sadly, their prejudices remained ingrained. I vividly recall my mother having trouble with my Portuguese girl friend in junior high school, warning me of dark-skinned children. Excuse me; I was only 14 years old.

I was raised in Oakland, California, my family settling in a restricted, mostly white neighborhood when I was four, just after the beginning of World War II. I witnessed “white flight” take place as African American workers in the war effort came to my neighborhood from a few southern states. The term Negro was actually politically correct at the time and commonly used (except for my dad who used the “N” word).

I experienced one of my young playmates being trucked off to a relocation camp. Although born in America, my friend was of Japanese descent, which automatically placed him in the group seen as a threat to our safety during the war (labeled as “Japs” by my dad). I also experienced a few Mexican American families moving in (“Mexicans”, sometimes called Pachuca).

When I was ten, I joined the East Oakland Boys Club, five blocks from my home. Its membership was about 50% white and 50% non-white. I went to a nearby high school that reflected the same percentages, and, because I worked at the Boys Club, I was “protected” during a race riot because I was known by club members of all colors as being “OK”.

I was growing up in a true melting pot – except that the Caucasians, the “whites”, were quickly leaving the neighborhood. Eventually, my mother, sister and I were one of only four or five non-ethnic families in a square mile area. (My father left the family in my early teens.)

By my late teens, a radical group, the Black Panthers, was founded, a revolutionary organization whose agenda included a variety of social causes, including monitoring the actions of the police department.

I’m providing this background, as it was only when I joined the Marine Corps at age 19, and served with Corps members from all geographical areas of the country, that I really started experiencing and understanding prejudice.

Where am I going with all this? Looking back, there were many experiences that could have encouraged me to be prejudiced, especially with the words and actions of my parents. I was short in stature, lousy at most sports, good at music (which had no street cred), and had acne. So, why did I become so liberal, accepting of all “kinds” of people?

Even though I was “carefully taught” to be prejudiced, thank heaven the teaching did not take, and, I’ve hopefully raised my three children to be accepting of all “kinds.”

Perhaps we’ve entered an age where –

You’ve got to be taught,

To love and embrace,

From day to day,

You’ve got to be taught

To befriend those who’re different,

It's got to be drummed

In your dear little ears

You've got to be carefully taught.

Parents and all other adults: by modeling, teach our young people – America’s future – that all people have value and are to be respected.

I close with the lyrics from a decades old song that still has a powerful message:

“I’d like to teach the world to sing

In perfect harmony

I’d like to hold it in my arms

And keep it company

I’d like to see the world for once

All standing hand in hand

And hear them echo through the hills

For peace through out the land

(That’s the song I hear)”

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