Lyric To a white girl

(Words written by Elridge Cleaver, from his book Soul on Ice)

["Too black, too strong."]
"Somehow I arrived at the conclusion that, as a matter of principle, it was of paramount importance for me to have an antagonistic, ruthless attitude towards white women. The term outlaw appealed to me, and at the time my parole date was drawing near, I considered myself to be mentally free. I was an outlaw. I had stepped outside the white man s law, which I had repudiated and scorned in self-satisfaction. I became a law unto myself. My own legislature, my own Supreme Court, my own executive. At the moment I walked out of the prison gate, my feelings towards white women in general could be summed up in the following lines:"

I love you because you re white
Not because you re charming or bright
Your whiteness is a silky thread
Snaking through my thoughts in red-hot patterns of lust and desire

I hate you because you re white
Your white meat is nightmare food
White is the skin of evil
You re my Moby Dick, white witch

You re my Moby Dick, white witch
Symbol of the rope and hanging tree, of the burning cross
Loving you thus, and hating you so
My heart is torn in two, crucified

I love you because you re white
Not because you re charming or bright