The Black and White Keys of the Piano

“I don’t care what you know; show me what you can do. Many of my people who get educated don’t work, but take to drink. They see white people drink, so they think they must drink too. They imitate the weakness of the white people, but not their greatness. They won’t imitate a white man working hard. . . . If you play only the white notes on a piano you get only sharps; if only the black keys you get flats; but if you play the two together you get harmony and beautiful music”

The above quotation as reported by the Umteteli wa Bantu newspaper of South Africa on April 23, 1921 is a portion of a talk Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegir Aggrey gave when he visited South Africa in 1921 as a member of the Phelps-Stokes Commission.

One specific aim of the Phelps-Stokes Commission’s visit to South Africa was to help bring about better and harmonious racial relations between Africans and Europeans, as well as to examine the conditions and opportunities of education among Africans.

Throughout his life Dr. Aggrey worked tirelessly to foster mutual understanding and co-operation between the white and black races in working out the destiny of Africa. He was the quintessential apostle of the gospel of inter-racial goodwill and harmony. Dr. Aggrey was described as the only man who could interpret Africa to Europe and Europe to Africa. As an African he knew his people very well. His education, intelligence and achievements in the New World also gave him insight into the workings of the Caucasian system. He was a bridge between the races and his words were both weighty and credible.

Dr. Aggrey’s famous quotation about the black and white keys of the piano is world famous and is often applied to enhance peaceful co-existence and harmony of black and white peoples.
This application of the famous quotation, however, is only one part of its interpretation. Even a casual study of the entire quotation shows that Dr. Aggrey was not only referring to racial harmony but more importantly to the manner in which black people copy whites.

In South Africa as in other parts of Africa visited by Dr. Aggrey he noticed that the black people saw white people drinking alcohol, so they thought they must drink too. They imitated the weakness of the white people, but not their greatness. They did not imitate a white man working hard to conquer his environment. They did not imitate the creativity of the white man. They did not acquire the sense of discipline and the cleanliness of the white man’s environment. They couldn’t get it that the white man thought ahead. He is concerned about generations yet to be born and therefore plans for them.

Dr. Aggrey’s black and white keys are thus an admonition that the races should exist harmoniously and black people should not forget to copy the good things of the white people. It is not just the habits of individual Caucasian but also the systems that they create. It may be political, economic, socio-cultural, scientific, technological, music and the arts.
Unfortunately this characteristic of the African was not limited to the 1920s. It was carried over to the subsequent decades and even to post-independent Africa. I dare say that we still carry those traits, even in our homeland Ghana that is blessed by God but “cursed” by the inhabitants. We have copied the white man’s failures and weaknesses and conveniently abandoned these characteristics that make him prosper.

Dr. Aggrey was one of us and so this concept of harmony should permeate all aspects of our national endeavors so that we can pay continuous and long lasting tribute to the memory of Dr. Aggrey. I thank God that Ghana has been spared major religious conflicts.

Most of the conflicts have been intra-religious in nature and not inter-religious. In much the same way the tribal conflicts have been relatively rare and not that intense as compared to other areas on our continent. This does not call for complacency but for more vigilance, especially in tackling those factors, especially loose talk, that pave the way for conflicts.

In my estimation, poverty and lack of jobs or business opportunity also rank high on the list. Busy people who go about their work diligently and are tired at the end of the day are not attractive targets to be recruited by the devil to do silly things.

Politically, the intolerance that existed in the early years of the formation of this country has dwindled but the degree of polarization that exists now is unacceptable. Here I put the blame on the so-called educated who take advantage of the again so-called grass roots. These educated may belong to different political parties but there must be many areas where they share common beliefs and values. It should therefore be possible to create platforms where such issues can be discussed without partisan coloration.

How can we continue to quote Dr. Aggrey when at home we are not at peace with ourselves? Here I think those who went to Achimota School have a double burden of responsibility. They have the reputation of Dr. Aggrey and their school to protect as well as the security and wellbeing of Ghana to safeguard.
This brings me to the question of who owns Ghana. There must be a group of people, some elders, especially former heads of State who may belong to different parties, tribes and religions but whose objective is to see to the interests of the country Ghana, irrespective of the party in power. Who owns Ghana? Nobody it seems.
As things stand now I do not know who fights for the interests of Ghana. Some of those who are paid to do just that collude with other interest groups to rape Ghana. Ghana is like a cake; people serve themselves without worrying about who bakes the cake to replenish what has been eaten. The only thing we do is to appeal to the “donor community” to bake more cake for us. That is not what Dr. Aggrey stood for.

Now let us consider the second part of black and white keys of the piano quotation. For one reason or the other most African leaders like the pomp and pageantry and wealth associated with political power but not the strategic thinking that will transform both human and natural resources for the benefit of the present and future generations. The leader of every little nation of the continent wants to live like the occupant of the White House in Washington, forgetting that the whole of the African continent contributes less that 1% to world trade.
Dr. Aggrey must be turning in his grave every day because his people, including or especially those of his Prince of Wales College whom he taught and coached to be leaders of this country have not taken his advice of copying the good deeds and thoughts of the “white man”. Africans are not taking the white man’s democracy seriously.

I admit, though, that a major legacy European colonial powers left to Africa is not democracy as practiced in their respective countries today. Their rule was characterized by authoritarianism, plunders, forced labour, slavery and death. But this is no excuse not to adopt present best practices of governance.
Yes, Leon Rom and many others working for King Leopold’s Congo Free State at the turn of the 20th Century decapitated African heads and severed the hands and feet of men, women and children, as punishment for “insubordination” and “laziness”, but it is no excuse that after another century the same despicable practices should be perpetrated, this time, by Africans against their fellow Africans in West Africa.
Henry Morton Stanley and his cohorts applied the chicotte at the bare backs of Africans but why should Ghanaian women be stripped naked and canned 150 years down the history lane all in the name of a God-forsaken revolution?

Africa could be subjugated because the white people had better technology even in those days. They developed the steam ship and so could travel fast on the high seas to our shores and a handful of them could subdue us because our bows, arrows and spears could not compete with their “fire spitting metal tubes” called guns.

It is heart warming to hear that the major political parties have promised to apply science and technology to change the structure of the Ghanaian economy so that at last poverty can be alleviated not through hand outs but by investing in knowledge and applying it. After all, for many people, poverty alleviation means being able to afford nutritious food, access to clean water and sanitation, energy, safe shelter, education and a healthy environment. Since science and technology have a historical record in providing solutions to poverty problems any efforts to alleviate poverty will not succeed without innovations in food production, water, energy and health provision and in general economic growth. This is what the white man does and it will do us good to copy. That would be Dr. Aggrey’ advice.