This is the lament of a man who goes to the South during the 60's, probably to march against segregation, but feels overwhelmed by the negativity he sees in the form of racism. The "spectre" is the image of the KKK, and the ghostly white sheets that they wear.
The "Holy Moses" exclamation is a reference to Martin Luther King, who was thought of as a modern day Moses, leading his people to freedom. In his famous final public speech, King himself embraced this role, and remarked that, like Moses in the Bible, he might well die just before his people got to the Promised Land.
This is the lament of a man who goes to the South during the 60's, probably to march against segregation, but feels overwhelmed by the negativity he sees in the form of racism. The "spectre" is the image of the KKK, and the ghostly white sheets that they wear.
The "Holy Moses" exclamation is a reference to Martin Luther King, who was thought of as a modern day Moses, leading his people to freedom. In his famous final public speech, King himself embraced this role, and remarked that, like Moses in the Bible, he might well die just before his people got to the Promised Land.