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38 Years Later: Did You Really Think ‘Ebony and Ivory’ Was a Solution to Racism?
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder’s unifying message is still relevant, but is anyone seriously listening?
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When Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder released the song “Ebony and Ivory” in 1982, I was a 10-year-old, racially mixed fifth-grader obsessed with music. I had grown up listening to both Stevie Wonder and The Beatles, and the song’s simple message of racial unity, which my family had ingrained in me since birth, resonated with me. I knew that racial inequities existed — I heard firsthand stories and I watched TV — but now, two of my heroes were evangelizing a message that I’d always believed. They convinced me that racial equality was finally on its way, and I couldn’t wait; not because my life was hard, but because I knew that everyone wasn’t as fortunate as I was.
“Ebony and Ivory” quickly became a global hit that reached #1 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts. Rolling Stone’s review of McCartney’s album Tug Of War devoted an entire paragraph to the song; the track received the ultimate compliment when Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo parodied it on Saturday Night Live.
