Lyric discussion by trphg 

Cover art for Buffalo Soldier lyrics by Bob Marley and the Wailers

Co-written by Bob Marley and N.G. Williams, aka King Sporty. The song recounted the true story of four post-Civil War regiments of the U.S. Army - the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry. These units were composed of black privates under the command of white brass, who fought for a quarter century against the Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Ute and Sioux. In the end, fourteen key black campaigners, whom the Indians had dubbed "buffalo soldiers," were awarded the Medal of Honor as part of a public relations move to justify and glorify the genocide of Native Americans, underlining the U.S. government's policy of manifest destiny. Such were the ploys that, then as now, comprised the politics of neutralization.