Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Marvin Gaye highlights 1970s social issues like poverty, war, and policing, showing frustration over injustice—problems that still exist today. #英検2級 #protestsong #protestmusic
I'm sorry, but could you explain the implication of the last sentence (“Overall, blacks ...”) in the following?:
The war in Vietnam was still going on. Here, Send that boy off to die refers to the fact that Black Americans were being drafted to fight in the war. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to the Vietnam War as a white man’s war, a black man’s fight. Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.
How is it (“Overall, blacks ...”) related to the idea of “a white man’s war, a black man’s fight”? I’m not good at making a good/logical connection between things, especially when statistical numbers are involved.
As I understand it, there are several aspects to look at here, and I welcome any readers to add comments and observations on this.
First, we can outline a cycle in that began in the U.S. during the Great Migration (1920s~1970s). People moved from the south to cities in the north and west and into neighborhoods where they could afford housing. Then, finding good-paying jobs became difficult. As you might know, students go to school in their own neighborhoods unless parents can afford private schools. Because of the structure of society, schools in education districts that did not receive equal funding made it more difficult for people who lived there to receive a good education and, later, to go on to college. A college education was also expensive for many people.
Also, during the 60s, men who were in college or who were married could get deferments so that they could finish college or continue to work and care for families. There were many young black men who did not have college degrees or, perhaps, were not married. This meant that they were eligible for the draft. According to Wikipedia and the New York Times article it references (1), African Americans comprised "11% of the US population in 1967, [but] African Americans were 16.3% of all draftees."
All of this was during a period of intense conflict over the injustices that African Americans were experiencing, not only in housing, education, and employment, but in being sent to fight a war in a foreign country that they had no real voice in.
Perhaps I’m just too old fashioned but I still want to cry at the thought of the amount of time, effort and resources, not to mention money spent on technology research and war when there are people, children starving to death. How this deserves any justification is beyond me … I can’t holler loud enough in my disdain and disappointment ☹️
Dear Louise,
I'm sorry, but could you explain the implication of the last sentence (“Overall, blacks ...”) in the following?:
The war in Vietnam was still going on. Here, Send that boy off to die refers to the fact that Black Americans were being drafted to fight in the war. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to the Vietnam War as a white man’s war, a black man’s fight. Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.
How is it (“Overall, blacks ...”) related to the idea of “a white man’s war, a black man’s fight”? I’m not good at making a good/logical connection between things, especially when statistical numbers are involved.
Mitsuru Hiki
Thanks for your question, Mitsuru.
As I understand it, there are several aspects to look at here, and I welcome any readers to add comments and observations on this.
First, we can outline a cycle in that began in the U.S. during the Great Migration (1920s~1970s). People moved from the south to cities in the north and west and into neighborhoods where they could afford housing. Then, finding good-paying jobs became difficult. As you might know, students go to school in their own neighborhoods unless parents can afford private schools. Because of the structure of society, schools in education districts that did not receive equal funding made it more difficult for people who lived there to receive a good education and, later, to go on to college. A college education was also expensive for many people.
Also, during the 60s, men who were in college or who were married could get deferments so that they could finish college or continue to work and care for families. There were many young black men who did not have college degrees or, perhaps, were not married. This meant that they were eligible for the draft. According to Wikipedia and the New York Times article it references (1), African Americans comprised "11% of the US population in 1967, [but] African Americans were 16.3% of all draftees."
All of this was during a period of intense conflict over the injustices that African Americans were experiencing, not only in housing, education, and employment, but in being sent to fight a war in a foreign country that they had no real voice in.
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_African_Americans_in_the_Vietnam_War
Perhaps I’m just too old fashioned but I still want to cry at the thought of the amount of time, effort and resources, not to mention money spent on technology research and war when there are people, children starving to death. How this deserves any justification is beyond me … I can’t holler loud enough in my disdain and disappointment ☹️