History has placed us all, black and...
Language: English
History has placed us all, black and white within a common border
and under a common law. All of us from the wealthiest and most
powerful men to the weakest and hungriest of children
share one precious possession, the name American. It is not easy
to know what that means, but in part to be an American means
to have been an outcast and a stranger, to have come to the
exiles' country, and to know that he who denies the outcast
and the stranger among us at that moment also denies America.
This is a great nation and a strong people. Any who seek to
comfort rather than speak plainly, reassure rather than instruct,
promise satisfaction rather than reveal frustration:
They deny that greatness and drain that strength.
For today as it was in the beginning it is the truth, it is
the truth that makes us free.
About the headline (FAQ)
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Submitted by Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
Authorship
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by David Werner Amram (b. 1930), "History has placed us all, black and white within a common border", published 1974, first performed 1969 [bass, woodwind quintet, string quintet], from Three Songs for America, no. 3, New York, Edition Peters [ sung text checked 1 time]
Text added to the website: 2018-09-08.
Last modified: 2018-09-09 14:36:13
Line count: 14
Word count: 149
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