“Ebony and Ivory, we’re together in perfect harmony. Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we?” Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder collaborated on that song nearly forty years ago. Many of us heard the positive aspects of the song, a call for racial harmony. How many of us heard the plea “why don’t we?”
I like to think that race relations in our country have improved in my lifetime. But sometimes it feels that for every two steps we take forward, we take a step backward.
The movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s might be case in point. The movie which stars George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn in some respects is Hollywood at its best and worst. For those not familiar with the 1961 flick, it is a love story and includes one of my favorite songs: Moon River. Sung by Audrey Hepburn in the movie, Moon River is a classic moment in cinema.
The movie also has its glaring faults. Racism is one of them. In the movie, Mickey Rooney plays a grossly stereotyped Japanese individual. Even sixty years ago in the year of the movie’s release, the “Hollywood Reporter” stated that Rooney’s portrayal of this individual was a “caricature and will be offensive to many.” Having spent two years with the 7th Fleet home based in Yokosuka, Japan, I can say that I find the portrayal offensive to the point that it spoils for me what would otherwise be a wonderful movie. While I never really learned to appreciate sumo wrestling or sushi, I have enjoyed Japanese baseball, still enjoy yakitori and yakisoba, and find many Japanese traditions, including respect for the elderly and ancestors, to be very honorable. Maybe we Americans can learn something from the Japanese.
McCartney’s and Wonder’s Ebony and Ivory does ask the question “why don’t we”, that is, why don’t we live in perfect harmony? It is a question that we Americans are long overdue in asking ourselves. If we are ever going to create a “more perfect union, establish justice (and) insure domestic tranquility” we need to look in the mirror and have deep dialog to address the issue of racism and achieve justice for all.
While the news cycle has concentrated on racial problems, the Covid-19 pandemic should not be forgotten. This might be where we can learn something from the Japanese. Decades ago, when I was a sailor in Japan, it was not uncommon to see Japanese men and women riding trains or buses with face masks. The Japanese have long worn masks in public when someone has a cold or virus. At first, I found this practice unusual. But later I grew to appreciate that individuals wore masks in Japan simply trying to prevent the spread of disease. It is a gesture of common courtesy.
Honestly, I do not understand the outright antipathy by some Americans to wearing a face mask inside public spaces during the pandemic. I don’t like wearing the masks either. My glasses fog up and I cannot see whether the other person I am talking to is smiling or frowning. But if I remember my time in Japan and why wearing a mask is simply to prevent the spread of disease, well maybe it isn’t all that bad.
Do face masks work to prevent the spread of Covid-19? A recent article in Reuters highlighted a Cambridge and Greenwich University study which concluded that “combining widespread mask use with social distancing and some lockdown measures, ‘could be an acceptable way of managing the pandemic and re-opening economic activity’ before the development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19.”
Now, I am not a scientist or medical professional. But I would like to be able to see a movie or a play in the not too distant future. And while my days of lugging a cooler into rock concerts are long gone, I would hope that younger generations will soon be able to experience live rock music.
If wearing a mask in public accelerates a greater return to normalcy, it seems to me a small price to pay. And if Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder ever team up for a concert tour, you might find me online at Ticketmaster. It would be fun to see the two of them run through a set of their greatest hits even if, as they have aged, some of their perfect harmony isn’t what it used to be.
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