I was thinking today about how much things have changed since I graduated High School and how much they haven't. Much can be told of the '60s from the popular music of that time. Songs like "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield. Released in 1967, the words still apply to what is happening in the United States today (1/18/26). "Blowin in the Wind" by Bob Dylan could have been written yesterday, it's still that relevant to what is happening today.
In the '60s when I was 16, 17, and 18, I didn't really pay attention to what the words of the songs were. I just listen to it because my peers listened to it. But, as I listen today, I hear in the songs of the '60s, the things I saw on the 6:00 o'clock news tonight. Civil rights are being violated by armed government militias, the US is threatening war on countries, there are riots in some of our largest cities against civil rights and marches against war and government policies, when will we ever learn? I think The answers we seek are still blowing in the wind.
Society today hasn't changed much from the '60s. I grew up first in the South Side of Chicago, then in Oaklawn, about 10 miles south; then on to New Lenox, about another 10 miles south of Chicago. I still remember going to the large Sears store and Montgomery Ward store in Downtown Chicago where there were signs over the restroom doors; "Whites Only" and "colored". Separate but equal is what our government (and white America) called it. From what I remember, most of "Downtown Chicago" was "Whites Only". Things are supposed to be different now, anyone can go anywhere, but just because you "can" go somewhere, it doesn't mean you will be welcome. Chicago along with most other big cities is still segregated. There are areas where whites live, areas where blacks live, areas for Latinos, Italians, Irish, Puerto Recons, etc... Still today, you are only really welcome in your designated area. I always lived in the white side of town, went to schools that were "Whites Only", went to churches that were all white. Sometimes, it seemed to me that we were still fighting the Civil War.
I live in Greenville North Carolina now, society is still segregated; not by race now, but by economic status. Greenville is broken up into rich, middle and poor communities. Again, just because you can cross community boundaries, it doesn't mean you will be welcome. What is really sad is that although races can intermix within their economic communities, race still seems to be a factor among whites. I still don't understand how our rich white forefathers who owned many slaves, could write in a Declaration of Independence that all men are free and equal when they, themselves did not believe it. They were good at talking the talk, but they did not walk the walk.
Where ever you are now, look around. Do you see freedom and equality? Or do you see segregation and lack of respect. What our forefathers did not understand was that before we can be truly free, we must have respect for those around us. And before we can have equality, we must respect the race, religious beliefs and economic status of those around us.
"How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind."