01.17.2011
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I’d like to share the lyrics to Tracy Chapman’s “Across the Lines.” I believe that much has been accomplished since the days of slavery and the civil rights era of the 1960s but there is still much needed that could change. It’s easy for me to say, of course, because I don’t have to walk in the shoes of a black person in the US on a daily basis, but I would like to be optimistic.
Perhaps there will be a generation where not only blacks and whites will look beyond the color of one’s skin and see each other as people first and foremost, but that such a mentality will cross over into the treatment of other minorities, religions, and ethnicities.
From her self-titled debut album, 1988
Across the lines
Who would dare to go
Under the bridge
Over the tracks
That separates whites from blacks
Choose sides
Run for your lives
Tonight the riots begin
On the back streets of america
They kill the dream of america
Little black girl gets assaulted
Ain’t no reason why
Newspaper prints the story
And racist tempers fly
Next day it starts a riot
Knives and guns are drawn
Two black boys get killed
One white boy goes blind
Across the lines
Who would dare to go
Under the bridge
Over the tracks
That separates whites from blacks
Choose sides
Run for your lives
Tonight the riots begin
On the back streets of america
They kill the dream of america
Little black girl gets assaulted
Don’t no one know her name
Lots of people hurt and angry
She’s the one to blame
Across the lines
Who would dare to go
Under the bridge
Over the tracks
That separates whites from blacks
Choose sides
Run for your lives
Tonight the riots begin
On the back streets of america
They kill the dream of america
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