Ignored Obscured Restored
This weekend marks the 17th anniversary of SotW. When I sent my first post, I never dreamed I would still be doing it all these years later. Thank you for your support.
Randy Newman has grappled with the concept of racism throughout his career, using his signature satirical style to expose its cruelty and hypocrisy.
One of his earliest songs to address the issue was “Sail Away” (1972), written from the perspective of a slave trader enticing Africans with false promises.
Typical of Newman, the song’s irony was lost on some listeners, who mistakenly thought he was mocking the enslaved rather than condemning the practice. The lyrics lay bare the deception used to lure captives:
In America you get food to eat
Won’t have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It’s great to be an American
Ain’t no lion or tiger, ain’t no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev’rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog, sail away with me
Newman expanded on the theme of racism with Good Old Boys (1974), a concept album that opens with “Rednecks.”
The song was inspired by Newman’s reaction to a Dick Cavett Show interview featuring Georgia’s segregationist governor, Lester Maddox. Maddox, ridiculed by Cavett and the audience, eventually walked off the show. You can watch it here:
While Newman was no fan of Maddox, he saw the hypocrisy in Northern attitudes toward racism. The song begins with a sharp critique of both Maddox and his detractors:
Last night, I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool, but he’s our fool
If they think they’re better than him, they’re wrong
Newman then sketches a stereotypical Southern racist.
We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We’re too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down
Finally, he exposes Northerners’ hypocrisy.
Now your northern nigger’s a Negro
You see he’s got his dignity
Down here we’re too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free
Yes he’s free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he’s free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he’s free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They’re gatherin’ ’em up from miles around
Keepin’ the niggers down
The song’s use of the N-word sparked controversy. Today, it is widely accepted that the word should NEVER be used, especially by a white person. However, Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy has defended writers who employ the term “to dramatize and condemn racism’s baleful presence.” Newman’s intent aligns with this perspective — his lyrics serve as an indictment, not an endorsement.
Newman continued exploring racism in later works, including Trouble in Paradise (1983).
“Christmas in Cape Town” presents a white South African bigot trying to justify apartheid to an Englishwoman:
This English girl from the North somewhere
Is stayin’ with me at my place
Drinkin’ up all my beer
Talkin’ about the poor niggers all the time
It’s a real disgrace, she says
I tell her, Darling, don’t talk about things
You don’t understand
I tell her, Darling, don’t talk about something
You don’t know anything about
I tell her, Darling, if you don’t like it here
Go back to your own miserable country
We’ve come a long way in confronting racism, but there is still plenty of work to be done. Unfortunately, recent attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives threaten to stall progress rather than advance it.
Enjoy… until next week.