‘Begging radio stations to stop playing this racist song’
Almost forty years after it was written, people are now pondering the lyrics to ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ with some questioning its morals.
Despite being blasted in every retail store, radio station, and advert at Christmas, people are concerned about the lyrics of the Christmas classic.
"There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time. The greatest gift they'll get this year is life. Where nothing ever grows. No rain nor rivers flow. Do they know it's Christmas time at all?"
Lyrics to Feed The World.
Begging radio stations to stop playing this racist song.
— saira rao 🍉 (@sairasameerarao) December 19, 2020
Written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984, the song was initially in aid of famine in Ethiopia. The song has ever since become a Christmas regular, which is rather bizarre when you think of the original meaning.
Writer and activist Saira Rao drew attention to the topic, tweeting: “There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time. The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life. Where nothing ever grows. No rain nor rivers flow. Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?’
“Lyrics to Feed The World.
“Begging radio stations to stop playing this racist song.”
Actress Kelechi Kelechnekoff had previously spoken on the topic in a lengthy Twitter thread.
“Well yes motherfuckers. We do know it’s Christmas due to a little thing called colonisation, we know more than we’d care to,” she said.
“Heal the world. Let them know it’s Christmas time again…”
Heal the world when you caused its “sickness”.
Wild.
— Kelechi (@kelechnekoff) December 12, 2017
Dr Asher Larmie further expanded on Rao’s point, noting that: “Feed the world is an extremely racist song that needs to be banned from radio play. There. I said it.
He continued: “And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time. The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life. Where nothing ever grows. No rain nor rivers flow…’ Are you kidding me with this s**t? Do you own a map? There are seven major rivers in Africa.
“Nothing ever grows? Watch a wildlife documentary. There won’t be snow in England either. And I’m sure a lot of African kids will tell you the greatest gift they’ll get is a PlayStation 5.
“Because Africa is not a continent filled with mud huts and starving children. The fact that a group of white people wrote a song with lyrics like ‘Pray for the other ones’, ‘give a little help to the helpless’ and ‘feed the world’ is bad enough. Playing it all these years later?”
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