"Black and White" is a song written in 1954 by

David I. Arkin David I. Arkin (December 19, 1906 – October 8, 1980) was an American teacher, painter, writer, lyricist, and the father of actor Alan Arkin. Early life Arkin was born in New York, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. Career In 1945, Ark ...

and

Earl Robinson Earl Hawley Robinson (July 2, 1910 – July 20, 1991) was a composer, arranger and folk music singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is remembered for his music, including the cantata " Ballad for Americans" and songs such as " ...

. It was first recorded by

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

featuring an African-American child, in 1956 from the album ''Love Songs for Friends & Foes''. The most successful recording of the song was the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

version by

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, when it reached number one on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and ''Billboard'' Easy Listening charts. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 63 song for 1972.

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972 This is a list of ''Billboard'' magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1972. The Top 100, as revealed in the year-end edition of ''Billboard'' dated December 30, 1972, is based on Hot 100 charts from the issue dates of December 4, 1971 through November 18 ...

Danny Hutton Daniel Anthony Hutton (born September 10, 1942) is an Irish-American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band Three Dog Night. Hutton was a songwriter and singer for Hanna-Barbera Records from 1965 to 1966. Hutton had a m ...

sang the lead vocals with a children's chorus adding their voices to the song.

Early recordings

Following Seeger's version, the song's writer

released his own recording in 1957, on the Folkways album ''A Walk in the Sun and other Songs and Ballads''. (The album title refers to a song written for the 1945 film '' A Walk in the Sun''.) Sammy Davis Jr. released his version also in 1957.

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

groups

the Maytones The Maytones (sometimes known as The Mighty Maytones) are a Jamaican reggae vocal duo who were active between the late 1960s and until 1980. History The Maytones formed in the late 1960s, and comprised Vernon Buckley and Gladstone Grant, both of ...

, from Jamaica, and

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, from the UK, both recorded the song in 1971, the latter achieving a top ten hit on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at No. 6. Having heard the Greyhound version, Three Dog Night covered the song and included it on their 1972 album ''

Seven Separate Fools ''Seven Separate Fools'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band Three Dog Night. Released in 1972, the album reached number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200, becoming the band's highest-charting album. The LP version of the album was re ...

''. Their version, which featured a group of children, peaked at number one on the U.S. Pop chart on September 16, 1972, and topped the

Easy Listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

on October 7. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 63 song for 1972. The album version featured a freely spoken recitation by Danny Hutton in the coda section of the song.

Other versions

Inner Circle recorded a cover for their 1989 album ''

Identified ''Identified'' is the second studio album by Vanessa Hudgens, released on July 1, 2008 in the U.S. June 24, 2008 in Japan, February 13, 2009 in most European countries and February 16, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The album re ...

''.

Meaning

The song was inspired by the United States

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision of ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'' (1954), which outlawed

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

of public schools. The original lyrics of the song opened with this verse, in reference to the court:

Their robes were black, their heads were white, The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight, Nine judges all set down their names, To end the years and years of shame.

However, the versions of the song recorded by Greyhound and subsequently by Three Dog Night did not include this verse, making the song more universal and less historically specific.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 1954 songs 1971 singles 1972 singles Songs written by Earl Robinson Three Dog Night songs Sammy Davis Jr. songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Dunhill Records singles American folk songs Songs against racism and xenophobia Trojan Records singles Songs written by David I. Arkin