Monday, October 02, 2006

You've Got to Be Taught

"No one is born to hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison … I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards."

Nelson Mandela


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"You've got to be taught, to hate and fear,
You've got to be taught, from year to year,
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are ugly made
And people whose skin is a different shade.
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught, before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught,
You've got to be carefully taught"

from the musical "South Pacific", "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught", music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein