“The Racist,” KRS-One (Boogie Down Productions), 1990, Lyrics and Audio

KRS-One delineated five types of racist in this landmark 1990 song.

The song covers a lot without descending into academic pretension and lingual obfuscation:

1. Brought up racist

2. Racist out of fear

3. Unconscious racist

4. Money racist

5. Black reactionary prejudice

🎼 Lyrics

I've been taught to respect my elders and behave

Even if when they were young they sold slaves

Truth and understanding is what I crave

In the land of the thief, home of the slave

Turn your page to a brief demonstration

'Cause now in '90 it's strictly information I'm giving

Teachin' on a regular basis

Today's lecture is about The Racist

We're not out to exaggerate or diss him

But show the symptoms and facts of racism

Understand The Racists ain't equal

There's about five different types of racist people

First of the five different types of cases

Is the individual brought up racist

Here you have young men and women

Brought up in the Great White Way opinion

This opinion introduced by the parent

To the civilized becomes transparent

The civilized man could look through the faces

Make the analysis and see The Racist

Number two case which y'all must hear

Is the individual racist out of fear

Here you have people that fear the African

And conjure up new ways of trappin' him

Number three is the unconscious racist

Not knowin' they're racist they invade your spaces

They say, "I'm not a racist, I'm not a bigot"

Yet they allow it to go on and won't admit it

Number four is the money racist

The one that used the topics of sheer economics

They say, "Owning a business isn't for the Black man

He don't want that", yet they went and took his land

Damn, that's like a rock and a hard place

You don't have your land yet this ain't your space

America was built by every other race

Except the European that runs this place

What a waste, America's doomed

To be overthrown by the righteous real soon

But last but not least racial prejudice

Is the Black man speakin' out of ignorance

Whitey this and Ching-Chow that

Is not how the intelligent man acts

You can't blame the whole white race

For slavery, 'cause this ain't the case

A large sum of white people died with Black

Tryin' hard to fight racial attacks

The media wants you to think that no whites

Really fought and died for Civil Rights

But once we have a true sense of history

You'll see this too as a mystery

If Black and white didn't argue the most

They could clearly see the government's screwin' 'em both

🎵▪️