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=Racism in the 197o's - by Julia P. Hickey =   I chose the song "Why Can't we be Friends?" by War. This song is written about racism. In the song, War is asking the people of the world, "why can't we just be friends?" Pretty much he is asking, "why everyone can't just get along and why does there have to be racism in the world?" This song spoke to me because I, too didn't fully understand why people had to be discriminating against other races and ethnic backgrounds in the world. I thought that researching this topic would help me better understand why.

media type="youtube" key="XRGd0gD0QNE" height="344" width="425" media type="youtube" key="K-MEkwooP2U" height="344" width="425"(The beginning is just talking but the rest is live singing!)

**"Wh****y C****an't We Be Fr****iends?" by War**  Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

I seen you 'round for a long long time I really 'membered you when you drink my wine

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

I seen you walkin' down in Chinatown I called you but you could not look around

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

I bring my money to the welfare line I see you standing in it every time

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

The color of your skin don't matter to me As long as we can live in harmony

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

I'd kinda like to be the President so I can show you how your money's spent

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

Sometimes I don't speak too bright but yet I know what I'm talking about

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

I know you're working for the CIA they wouldn't have you in the Mafia

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?   The point that is being made in this song is that why does the color of your skin matter when becoming friends with someone? Another thing is that just seeing someone of a different race, people would not pay attention to that particular person because they were from a different ethnic background than themselves. This song is asking; "Why can't we all just live in harmony together, as one?" My response to these lyrics is that I agree. I feel that this song is making a good point of why does it matter? I agree with the lyrics, and I want to know why we can't just all be friends. The lyrics relate to my research because the fourt bullet point down where it says, "Racial prejudice.....deprived underclass" it is showing that the whites believed that they were more powerful than the blacks and the whites were making sure that they were keeping the inequality of the balcks and other races. The blacks were the "deproved underclass" because of this. Also, on the third bullet point down, where it says, "Racism and disrimination....America as a whole," this relates to the song because the song mentions several places that are not just in the South were some racism had occured.
 * Facts:**
 * The thought that racial integration would soften in America disappeared in the late 60's and early 70's.
 * "Modern" racism in the North took the place of institutionalized segregation and "old fashioned" racism of the south.
 * Racism and discrimination was not just a problem in the south, but it was a problem in all of America. Inequalities between blacks and whites happened all throughout America as a whole.
 * Racial prejudice was expressed as the interests of the controlling white group in maintaining racial inequality and blacks being the deprived underclass.
 * To rid of racism; social, economic, and political inequalities between blacks and whites would be changed through favorable action and political license of blacks in the American society.
 * Response**

The Group that sings "Why Can't we be Friends" is War. The band was originally called Eric Burdon & War. War is an American Funk band from California. The were formed in 1969 and their types of music includes rock, funk, jazz, reggae, Latin Music, and R&B. War was a multi-ethnic band and exceeded racial and cultural difficulty. Their lyrics are socio-political.
 * Bio Artists**

"Why Can't we be Friends?" Racism has been a huge issue in the past years and still is an issue today. Although, it has a smaller impact on our world today than it did in the 1970s. Racism was a horrid occurrence which struck the lives of many. In the song "Why Can't we be Friends?" War says, "The color of your skin don't matter to me, as song as we can live in harmony." In the 1970s, just because you had a different skin color than a white, you couldn't get a job, or you couldn't even use the same water fountain as whites did. My question is, "Why did it matter what color your skin is?" War had this same question in their song, and therefore asked discriminating people, "Why Can't we be Friends?" I have a hard time gripping the fact that there were actually people who told blacks, "You can't stay here because your of color"...or the like. God created us, humans as equals to every other human in the world, and the fact that blacks had limitations because of their color is astonishing. I believe racism was a terrible thing, and should have never occurred. Times have definitely changed since the 1970s because different races are more integrated and nobody is as discriminating as people were back then. Racism seemed to fade throughout the years until now. Although, I have seen discrimination in many places still today. Still today, just because some is of color, they may be discriminated against. This especially occurs because of how rich technology is today and with internet and television people seem to have a better reason to be racist towards people. Me dia exaggerates issues and they make things seem worse than they are. Even though this issue is much more resolved today, problems still occur. I guess people just can't grip the fact that everyone is equal and we all should just be friends.
 * Opinion piece:**

To go to the '70s home page, click here.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(band)