Black and White
One of the books I enjoyed reading over the summer was 'Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times' by Thomas Hauser - and here's one of my favourite passages.
On lack of black pride
"We've been brainwashed. Everything good is supposed to be white. We look at Jesus, and we see a white with blond hair and blue eyes. We look at all the angels; we see white with blond hair and blue eyes. Now, I'm sure there's a heaven in the sky and coloured folks die and go to heaven. Where are the coloured angels? They must be in the kitchen preparing milk and honey. We look at Miss America, we see white. We look at Miss Universe, we see white. Even Tarzan, the king of the jungle in black Africa, he's white. White Owl Cigars. White Swan soap, White Cloud tissue paper, White Rain hair rinse, White Tornado floor wax. All the good cowboys ride white horses and wear white hats. Angel food cake is the white cake, but the devils' food cake is chocolate. When are we going to wake up as a people and end the lie that white is better than black?"
Now more than forty years ago these views were still very controversial - revolutionary even - but change was brought about in America by a peaceful revolution not by bombs and guns - or suicide killers.
The same was true of the anti-apartheid movement under the leadership of Nelson Mandela - which ended 'white rule' in South Africa by largely peaceful means.
The constitution of the new, non-racial South Africa is based on democratic elections and majority rule - but crucially is also underpinned by a commitment to other basic human rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech, freedom to worship and the role of women in society.
Because on the latter point just about every funny comparison that Muhammad Ali made about the position of the 'black' population in American society in the 1960s - could equally have been made about the role of women.
Which only goes to show that great social change is possible without people resorting to bloodshed and violence - although in parts of the world still dominated by religious ideology this kind of peaceful social change is proving much more difficult to achieve.
