I think you're missing the point StonedGoat, or I'm misinterpreting your words.
The song is definitely anti-racism
you have to take the lines together:
"To ignore is to condone it if you think
about it don't shut up. You might as well be speaking
at the next one nation meeting."
It means to ignore racism is to condone it, so by not calling people (especially your 'friends') then you should basically be speaking at the next One Nation meet, because by ignoring the racism you're condoning it.
The verse, "Start today you can say it's not okay, don't go along for the ride well it's not too late for you to say when they say that it's all right well it's not alright, it's not alright"
Is the artist talking about when someone makes a racist remark/joke in a social setting, and someone else says "hey, that's not alright" and the person making the racist remark says or someone else in the group says "Lighten up, it's alright" that it's not alright.
The 'start today' line is about not letting it go on for a another second longer, to stand up to this casual racism that people think is 'alright'.
The bits at the end 'Some of my best friends are racist' is a satire of all those people that say 'I'm not racist because some of my best friends are Indians/Asians/Black/Aboriginal/Whatever'
"My best friends are arseholes" means that even though they are racists, they are still his friends (but also arseholes for being racist)
The entire song is a lamenting of the fact that things that are 'given' (like, say, racial equaityl) aren't given at all, that even though someone is a great friend, they have a hideous racist side.
I think you're missing the point StonedGoat, or I'm misinterpreting your words.
The song is definitely anti-racism
you have to take the lines together:
"To ignore is to condone it if you think about it don't shut up. You might as well be speaking at the next one nation meeting."
It means to ignore racism is to condone it, so by not calling people (especially your 'friends') then you should basically be speaking at the next One Nation meet, because by ignoring the racism you're condoning it.
The verse, "Start today you can say it's not okay, don't go along for the ride well it's not too late for you to say when they say that it's all right well it's not alright, it's not alright"
Is the artist talking about when someone makes a racist remark/joke in a social setting, and someone else says "hey, that's not alright" and the person making the racist remark says or someone else in the group says "Lighten up, it's alright" that it's not alright.
The 'start today' line is about not letting it go on for a another second longer, to stand up to this casual racism that people think is 'alright'.
The bits at the end 'Some of my best friends are racist' is a satire of all those people that say 'I'm not racist because some of my best friends are Indians/Asians/Black/Aboriginal/Whatever'
"My best friends are arseholes" means that even though they are racists, they are still his friends (but also arseholes for being racist)
The entire song is a lamenting of the fact that things that are 'given' (like, say, racial equaityl) aren't given at all, that even though someone is a great friend, they have a hideous racist side.