Difference between revisions of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey by Sly and the Family Stone (1969)"

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[[Category: Black Racism in Song Lyrics]]
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[[Category: Black-Targeted Racism in Song Lyrics]]

Latest revision as of 07:47, 15 March 2021

Sly and the Family Stone

Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey is a song from fourth album by Sly and the Family Stone. The Album, Stand! was written and produced by lead singer a Sly Stone, and considered as an artistic high-point of the band's career.[1]

The soul/funk song was released by Epic Records on May3, 1969. [2]

Controversy

The Family Stone with the song Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey left a little room for re-interpretation. [3]

It is in the 1960's turbulent years, politically, culturally, and socially summed up in one song of United State history - racism: Black/White. The everlasting legacy of slavery continued to racism and de facto slavery. Peoples were systematically slaughtered, poisoned with foreign disease, and robbed of their lands, referred to an offensive word as N word. N word or ‘niggah’ referred to black people as a coded language that shows disrespect. [4]

The word nigger, in the English language is an ethnic slur directed at black people, especially African-American. The word originated derived in the 18th century from a Spanish word, negro and a descendant of Latin adjective niger, means black. The insulting words used by the mid-20th century, particularly in the United states to show pejorative, racist insults. Considering the term is extremely offensive. The word is often referred to by the euphemism, the N-word. [5]

Many of their songs tell about social issues around the day, and are relevant that racism still exists in our society today. One of their songs beside “Don’t Call Me Nigger” is “Everyday People” that talks about racial tensions as lyrics below :

There is a blue one who can't accept the green one

For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one

And different strokes for different folks

And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo

I am no better and neither are you

We are the same whatever we do [6]

Below is the lyrics of the song which dominantly pressing on sentence “Don’t call me nigger, whitey!”

Don't call me nigger, whitey!

Don't call me whitey, nigger!

Don't call me nigger, whitey!

Don't call me whitey, nigger!

Well I went down across the country,

and I heard some voices rang.

They was talkin' softly to each other

and not a word could change a thing.

Don't call me nigger, whitey!

Don't call me whitey, nigger!

Don't call me nigger, whitey!

Don't call me whitey, nigger! [7]

References