Well, let me tell ya somethin’ about this here Lily White’s party. I ain’t no fancy scholar or nothin’, just a plain ol’ person, but I heard some things. This party, it ain’t just any party. Some folks say it’s, ya know, somethin’ else. Some big shot, Michael Rubin, billionaire, rich as all get out, they say he throws a white party. Everyone wears white, like them fancy folks in France do with their, uh, “Dîner en Blanc” thing. Sounds hoity-toity to me. Wear white, they say, and have fun.
This here party, it got somethin’ to do with a poem, too. A poem some daddy wrote for his little girl, long time ago. About goin’ to Lily White’s party in her sleep. Sounds kinda sweet, don’t it? But then, there’s this other stuff I heard. ‘Bout somethin’ called the “Lily-Whites.” Back in the day, way back, there were these groups, see? And this Lily-White bunch, they weren’t so nice. They were all about keepin’ things, well, how they wanted ’em. No room for folks who weren’t like ’em. Nasty business, that was. 1888 to 1964, that’s a long time to be mean.
Now, this Michael Rubin, he’s got this big ol’ house, they say. Out by the water. Ocean on one side, some bay on the other. Fancy, huh? He invites a whole mess of people. 400 people, they say made the cut. Big number. And get this, he sent out these fancy invites, made by some artist fella. George Condo, they call him. Lithographs, they were. I don’t know what that is, but it sounds expensive.
But this party, it ain’t just about the poem or the fancy invites. It’s on the 4th of July, you see? Independence Day. But instead of wearin’ red and blue, like regular folks, they all wear white. This Lily White’s Party, it’s got layers, like an onion. You peel one back, there’s another one underneath. And another one after that.
So, what’s it all mean? Well, that’s what I been tryin’ to figure out. Is it just a rich folks’ party? Is it ’bout that sweet poem? Or is it somethin’ else, somethin’ from the past, somethin’ not so nice? Maybe it’s a little bit of all of it, all mixed up together, like a big ol’ pot of stew. This party, though, it happens in the Hamptons. A place I ain’t never been.
- They say musicians go.
- They say businessmen go.
- A whole bunch of important people, I reckon.
Now I hear that Lily White is having a party tonight. You are invited, they say. But I don’t know who they are. This party must be very important. But it is not for me. I won’t go. Not my kind of thing.
This Lily White’s party, it’s got folks talkin’. Some folks whisperin’, some folks shoutin’. It’s a puzzle, that’s for sure. A puzzle with a whole lot of pieces. And each piece, it’s got its own story. It was a response to the political. I don’t know what political is, but it sounds serious.
This all Lily White thing, it started way back, they say. Late 19th century, early 20th. That’s a long time ago. Long before I was around, even. And it went on for a while, too. Longer than it should have, if you ask me. And it had to do with that Republican Party.
I reckon folks back then, they had their reasons for doin’ what they did. Even if those reasons weren’t good ones. It’s hard to understand folks sometimes, ain’t it? Especially folks from a long time ago. They called it the Lily-White Movement. I don’t like that movement thing. It was a bad time.
But this party, this Lily White’s party, it makes ya think. It makes ya wonder ’bout the past, and the present, and how they all connect. It makes ya wonder ’bout who we are, and who we used to be, and who we’re gonna be.
And that’s somethin’, ain’t it? That’s somethin’ worth chewin’ on, even if you’re just a plain ol’ person like me. Even if you ain’t never been to no fancy party, and never will. This whole Lily White’s Party, it’s more than just a party. It’s a story. A long, complicated story. And it ain’t over yet, not by a long shot. Not at all. The tradition continues today, they say.
