Oh, to Be White for a Minute

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A Pew Research Center poll shows white people are more than twice as likely to be optimistic about the future of black people in America.

When he first heard about the song's title, musician Allen Watty pulled over to the side of the road and told the writer Irvin Lee that he'd never — never — sing it. Watty wanted nothing to do with "Sometimes I Wish I Was White."

"I was not going to do that that song," says Watty, "because I'm proud of who I am."

Then he went to the studio and heard the song for himself. Among its signature lines is "Sometimes I feel I wish I was white, so I could feel just how it feels to be treated right." Watty says he was struck by the high quality of the writing, and immediately wanted to put its message out to the public. The song comes even as recent poll from the Pew Research Center shows that 49 percent of black Americans say their lives are no better off than they were five years go; another 29 percent say their lives are worse.

"We need to say, OK, racism is alive, and then how do we heal from this?" Watty argues.

On our blog, an open thread: Ever wish you could change your race?