Lyrics:

Sweet racist…

Sweet racist, you act like the color matters most
You draw your little lines, still braggin’ on a ghost
Stand so high above the rest
But when the blade cuts deep… we all wear the same red dress

One shields from the burning sun
The other from the freezing rain
But we all came from the same place…
The same blood in our veins

We bleed the same, we feel the same pain
Born under different skies, still one human flame
Sweet racist, open your eyes and let it go
From the motherland we rose… let the whole world know

Cradle rocked in Africa where it all began
First heartbeat, first cry, first woman and first man
Great-grandfathers under the same sun
Great-grandmothers sang when the day was done
Now we point at mirrors, call our brothers strange
Forgetting the blood, forgetting the name

Strip away the skin… what you gonna find?
A beating heart… a searching soul… one of a kind…

We bleed the same, we feel the same pain
Born black, turned white, still brothers in the rain
Sweet racist, open your eyes and let it go
From the African cradle… let the whole world know  

No master race… no chosen few
Just you… and me… and me… and you…
Under the half-moon cradle shining in the night
We still share the same light…  

We bleed the same, we cry the same tears
Scattered by the wind through all these years
Sweet racist, lay your weapons on the ground
We were one before the walls came down
From the half-moon cradle… shining in the night
We still share the same light… the same light…  

Sweet racist… let it go
We already know…
We already know… 

Background:

Systemic racism emerged globally during 15th-century European colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. To justify exploitation, empires invented the concept of "race," classifying humans by skin color instead of religion or tribe.

Chronological Summary:

18th-Century Enlightenment: Thinkers created "scientific racism." This falsely claimed human groups possessed inherent biological hierarchies to excuse global conquest.

19th and 20th Centuries: State-sanctioned racism persisted after slavery's abolition. Governments enforced institutional segregation, including Jim Crow laws in America and Apartheid in South Africa.

Modern Era: Post-WWII genetics proved race is a social construct, not a biological reality. Civil rights movements dismantled explicit laws. However, the legacy remains today as systemic racism, driving ongoing inequalities in wealth, justice, and housing.
 

Latest Music