The Black American struggle for equality during the 20th century was energized by a popular saying that sought to clarify the situation with the statement "if you are white you are alright, if you are brown stick around, if you are black stand back." This book seeks to clarify the deep historical roots of the saying that created a social order that placed blacks at the bottom with respect to whites and even brown races in some instances. The assumed, but absent unity between blacks and browns is explored. From a situation where some Asians sought legal white status and some blacks readily bleached their skin and some Indian tribes enslaved blacks. Despite all of this blacks have risen greatly in America as seond to no other group, but equals.