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In The Flesh – #RaceFreeMonth

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February has been declared Race Free Month and every week day in February we at MyPE will be combating the subtle racist nuances that hamper our thinking, cloud our judgement, restrict our development and increase the tension in South Africa.

Life imitated art in the early 1980’s when South African school children, fed up with an inferior apartheid-era education system, took to the streets chanting the lyrics of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall. The song, from the album ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ with its memorable line; “We don’t need no education,” was an early rallying cry amongst South African students sick of an unjust system.

The apartheid government of the time reacted in it’s typical fashion by issuing a ban on the album containing the 10 minute song on 2 May 1980 – creating unfavourable international headlines.

I remember so well playing ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ in my late father’s car – on a trip through Addo nogal – rewinding and playing that section halfway in when a helicopter flew from speaker to speaker before the pounding bass line cracked to lead in to the famous lines; “We don’t need no education, We don’t need no thought control, No dark sarcasm in the classroom, Teachers leave them kids alone!”

“People were really driven to frenzies of rage by it,” Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters later said. “They thought that when I said, ‘We don’t need no education,’ that it was a kind of crass, revolutionary standpoint – which, if you listen to it in context, it clearly isn’t at all.”

My favourite line; “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding.”

But of course Pink Floyd do need to come in for a spanking for their lyrics in the song ‘In the Flesh’ off of the same album.

With respect Roger we think you should have sung:

Are there any dears in the theater tonight?
Invite them to the ball!
There’s one in the spotlight, he looks alright to me,
Invite him to the ball!
Help that one who looks blueish!
And that one can croon!
Let more of these people into the room!
There’s one smoking a joint,
And another with yachts!
If I had my way,
I’d have all of you on my yacht!

Instead of:

Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There’s one in the spotlight, he don’t look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one’s a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There’s one smoking a joint,
And another with spots!
If I had my way,
I’d have all of you shot!

Sign the Pledge to go Race Free.

Related: February 2016 Race Free Month Articles

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.