"Red and Yellow, Black and White Hymn" origin

[Ryan29]

My mother was telling me about a hymn she sang in bible school. the “red and yellow, black and white, all god’s children in jesus’ sight.” She sang this in the 1950’s, but since in the rural south african americans weren’t given their civil rights for about 10 years; it didn’t seem to make sense. I was curious what’s the origin of this hymn and where did it come from? With the lack of civil rights for “black” americans in mind it sounds like Christianity had the hand of the pulse of the inclusion of all people of every race together under one root cause; the way the country wasn’t yet.

It was interesting and I searched the web for that hymn, but to no avail. Does anyone know the origin of the hymn?

Thanks and good luck…

 

[SyCarl]

It is called Jesus Loves the Little Children.

cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/e/jesloves.htm

 

[1ke]

Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel of New Orleands desegregated the Catholic Churches there in 1953 and was an outspoken leader in the South regarding this moral issue. He even excommunicated several Catholics who launched protetsts against desegregating parochial schools.

Remember, in the South, it was more than just a custom-- segregation was actually written into the law in these states and had been since the 1870s.

Bishops like Rummel were truly visionary and acting against unjust laws.

The worldwide Church, including the Papacy, has always spoken out against the moral evil of racism.

 

[Contarini]

My mother was telling me about a hymn she sang in bible school. the “red and yellow, black and white, all god’s children in jesus’ sight.” She sang this in the 1950’s, but since in the rural south african americans weren’t given their civil rights for about 10 years; it didn’t seem to make sense. I was curious what’s the origin of this hymn and where did it come from? With the lack of civil rights for “black” americans in mind it sounds like Christianity had the hand of the pulse of the inclusion of all people of every race together under one root cause; the way the country wasn’t yet.

It was interesting and I searched the web for that hymn, but to no avail. Does anyone know the origin of the hymn?

Thanks and good luck…

I suspect that the original purpose of the song was to encourage children in Sunday School to think about missions. However, it’s also probably true that the song did not originate in the rural South! And finally, almost no Christians even in the segregation era would have denied that people of all races are precious in Jesus’ sight. They did not necessarily think that this had implications incompatible with the practice of segregation, obvious as that conclusion seems to us today.

Edwin

 

[Loren_1of6]

The way my grandmother, who did grow up in the rural South, taught it to me when I was a little girl:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

The way she would sing it after everyone knew the words:

Jesus love the little children
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white
And pokey-dotted too.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I learned this 60+ years ago when we had Baptist Bible study in public schools in Maine.

 

[Singinbeauty]

I LOVE this song! Please see below:

Found @ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_child’s_prayer
Jesus Loves the Little Children
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Words written by preacher Clare Herbert Woolston (1856-1927)
Sung to the 1864 Civil War tune “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp” by George Fredrick Root
Inspired by Matthew 19:14: Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Some have sought to improve on Woolston’s original words by inserting the color “brown” between “red” and “yellow.”
Some more politically correct modern versions read ‘Every color, every race, all are covered by His grace’ instead of ‘Red and yellow, black, and white, all are precious in His sight.’
Alternate lyrics:

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Fat and skinny, short and tall,
Jesus loves them one and all,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

A recorded version of this is played during several different parts of the movie See No Evil.
Used as an introduction to the Ray Stevens song “Everything is Beautiful”.