Black and Blue Devil

So we sent you to camp where the other boys were white
So a coach came to our doorstep, oh was he polite
A leading program in the country on a full scholarship
Named for a tobacco family who didn't spare the whip

Your mother and I tried to do what was best
Your mother and I tried to do what was best
I remember the cops and the hoses and the dogs
I remember the cops and the hoses and the dogs

So we let you play the only native game
So we told you that this country sees every boy the same
So we told you to forget all about the past for shame
So we taught you that the silent man's as bad as he who sins
In a house in the night
I hope you never chipped in

I've been alive too long to trust genetic tests
I've been around too long to believe in just arrests
I grew up knowing separate isn't equal after all
But now you're all, you're all equally at fault

Your mother and I tried to do what was best
Your mother and I tried to do what was best
I remember the cops and the hoses and the dogs
I remember the cops and the hoses and the dogs

So your skin set you free and the white girls show support
The boys of North Buchannan won't even go to court
But we're not welcome in the church we rebuilt in '68
You share in the disgrace but you'll never be one of them

In a house in the night
My God she could have been your kin
What we said